The team responsible for the disastrous re-fit of Banbury's open-air swimming pool have been told repairs must be carried out at no extra cost to taxpayers.

Engineers Mouchel Consulting, along with contractors Interclass and FebMBT, met with Cherwell District Council last week for a progress report following the summer fiasco.

The pool, off Woodgreen Avenue, was forced to close on August 3 just 48 hours after being re-opened following a £115,000 re-fit, because the lining peeled away from the sides.

In a statement issued on behalf of the contractors, the project team has accepted full responsibility for the failure of the pool lining and said that no blame was attributable to the council.

The pool is scheduled to re-open again to swimmers on Spring Bank Holiday next year.

At a recent council meeting, furious Tory councillors launched an attack on their ruling Labour counterparts and demanded to know who was responsible for the disaster.

Conservative Cllr George Reynolds said: "I hope everything in this saga will be put out in the open and made public."

But recreation committee chairman Cllr Jack Steer (Lab) said the council had relied on contractors to do a good job and could not be blamed for the closure. He said: "When you can't rely on people who have been paid to do a job, problems are going to occur. Their skill and ability is being used and if that lets us down we must take action."

Removal of the polyurethane lining is nearly finished and an action plan, which will include rigorous testing of the new coating, is being prepared. TAs an extra precaution, the pool will be temporarily refilled to prevent as the clay beneath the site could damage to the pool while it is empty of water.

Mouchel spokesman Jonathan Simcocks said: "We are looking at options and developing a programme to move the process forward. The re-fill is just as a precaution - I have no doubt that the pool will be open for the next summer holidays."

Linda Plowright, Cherwell's sport and recreation manager, said that another meeting will be held on Monday (Sep 21) to discuss the proposals on how the pool can be brought back into use.

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