BANBURY Council is to press ahead with plans to save the town's open-air swimming pool, despite warnings of possible heavy financial losses.

The future of the pool now rests with Cherwell District Council which holds the major purse strings.

The pool, part of the Woodgreen Leisure Centre and owned by Cherwell, has been closed for three years, and has been under threat of permanent closure for nearly 18 months.

Campaigners in the Open-Air Pool Support Group led opposition to the closure and last year Banbury Town Council stepped in with a proposed rescue bid.

The town council volunteered to take over the running of the site from the district authority, and Cherwell Canoe Club came in with an offer to share the pool and inject £100,000 cash.

Support for Woodgreen forced Cherwell to promise £500,000 for pool repairs if the town council came up with a viable working plan.

But on Thursday, at a Banbury Town Council's resources committee meeting, a report by consultants Knight, Kavanagh and Page into the future potential of the Woodgreen Centre, cast gloom on the situation.

The report said the pool would lose £60,000 to £80,000 a year in the best possible weather conditions for outdoor swimming, and forecast a deficit of up to £220,000 a year in bad weather summers.

But the gloomy forecast did not deter members of the resources committee.

Chairman John Colegrave said the report was what the council wanted.

He said: "We asked for a realistic statement - warts and all. We didn't want to look at the issue through rose-tinted glasses, and what we have got is a worst-case scenario."

Mr Colegrave added: "We have to remember that we do not own the site and that the main decision-maker is Cherwell District Council.

"They have to put money in.

"It is clear from the report that the financial risk to the town council would be more than we could take. We would run out of money after a few years or be forced to put council tax up to an unreasonable degree."

He said the town council could guarantee £50,000 a year to keep the pool open, but not much more.

He said he had approached parish councils for contributions and had received a favourable response.

Mr Colegrave said: "The problem is that Cherwell has a three leisure centre strategy (it is planning to rebuild Spiceball in Banbury, and sports centres in Bicester and Kidlington) and our hands are tied until this is changed.

"We need to negotiate with Cherwell to change their policy to four leisure centres.

"Cherwell must put in an annual subsidy and hold a fund for maintenance and repairs."

Local councillor Patrick Cartledge said: "It is right for the town council to put in cash, but I have doubts that Cherwell will support this - though we must put pressure on them."

Kieron Mallon warned that Banbury representatives on Cherwell were in a minority - and that councillors from other areas would not agree to extra funding for Banbury."

The committee agreed four recommendations - to support the continuation of swimming and bowls at Woodgreen, to recognise that the town council cannot take on the facility without capital and revenue contributions from Cherwell District Council, to negotiate with Cherwell to achieve its aims, and to lobby parish councils and charities for financial and political support."

Other facilities at Woodgreen include an indoor bowls green, and a series of smaller rooms used for a variety of activities including bingo, playgroup, and keep-fit sessions.

The consultants said that neither the bowls club nor the canoe club could manage the whole site but both would support any new management structure.