EVENING sports classes in Wallingford could be scrapped and prices increased because of council cuts, a headmaster has warned.

South Oxfordshire District Council chiefs have cut a subsidy for Castle Leisure Centre, in the grounds of Wallingford School, for sports and dance studio classes used by about 200 people.

The centre, built in 1998, was managed by leisure firm Nexus but a lack of council cash has seen this come to an end.

The school has now agreed to manage it instead – but has warned it will not be able to subsidise sessions.

Headteacher Wyll Willis said the centre was the town’s main evening leisure facility. He said: “Costs will go up across the board.

“For some users this could mean they can no longer afford to use the hall.”

He added: “It’s a real shame that South Oxfordshire District Council was unable to keep this going.

“Hard as they tried, Nexus could not run this on SODC’s behalf without it being a drain on SODC’s finances.

“But this is a sports college, and some of our employees will try to generate as much community sport as possible after school hours.”

He said some groups could be turned away in the next two months because the school does not yet have public liability insurance for the hall. Groups could have their own insurance, he said.

Groups include five-a-side football teams and martial arts classes.

Karina Lewis, secretary of Wallingford Badminton Club, said the group could continue to use the hall – but costs would go up.

She said: “We can carry on because our Badminton England insurance covers us to play.

“It’s £7.20 per court per hour at the moment, but we do expect that price to go up.”

She said it was too early to say how much costs would increase.

Matt Prosser, strategic director for South Oxfordshire District Council, said the subsidy cost the council ‘tens of thousands of pounds’ a year.

He added: “The council has had to look for a different way of running the service.

“The school is a sports college and we thought it would be more cost-effective for the school to manage it.”