The swimming pools at Market Drayton Swimming & Fitness Centre will close from Wednesday 15 October 2025 until further notice while Shropshire Council explores the cause of a leak in the main pool and carries out work to fully identify the cause.
The principal source of the leak appears to be from underground pipework near to the main pool tank. The learner pool will also close to allow full access to the pool hall and pool tank surround.
Work to repair the pool is expected to cost around £230,000. This will come from the council’s capital budget. This capital budget cannot be used to pay for the running of day-to-day services.
Councillor James Owen, Shropshire Council’s Cabinet member for leisure services, said:
“Closing the pools is obviously something we don’t want to do, but the main pool is losing a significant amount of water and this can’t continue. We urgently need to find out why and what we need to do to fix it.
“While we won’t know the exact cost of the repair work until we do further investigations, we are expecting it to be significant. It’s an older pool so there may be more to it than repairing the pipework. We’re hoping that this isn’t the case, however, money will be available to undertake all the necessary work.
“The pool is an important facility to the council, and I can reassure everybody this temporary closure to complete essential work does not mean it will face total closure.”
Peter Davis, Shropshire Council’s leisure services manager, said:
“The centre is an extremely popular facility, receiving hundreds of swim visits from various user groups each week. We are conscious that closing the swimming pools will be inconvenient and our contractors will be working hard to find the root cause, repair and re-open as soon as they can.
“The sooner they start, the sooner we will have an idea how long the pools will be out of action. The gym will remain open during the pools closure, however, and our operator, Shropshire Community Leisure Trust will be in contact directly with all members, schools, clubs and users to discuss arrangements.”
Rhys Collins, Shropshire Community Leisure Trust’s partnership manager, added:
“While this repair work is being completed, I would like to reassure our customers that the gym at Market Drayton Swimming & Fitness Centre will remain open. Our gym-floor-based workout programme will also still be available, and we’re looking to expand this popular element of what’s on offer at the centre.
“We are currently working to provide schools with access to other swimming centres, notably at Whitchurch and the Quarry in Shrewsbury, for them to fulfil their statutory swimming requirements. Pool sessions at Whitchurch will also be made available, where possible, to allow the swimming club based at Market Drayton to continue swimming during the closure period.
“We apologise for any inconvenience this temporary swimming pool closure may cause but will ensure our customers and employees are kept updated throughout the process.”
While the centre is closed, users of the pool are encouraged to use Quarry Swimming & Fitness Centre or Whitchurch Swimming and Fitness Centre which opened in March this year.
