A mother has spoken of her frustration after the main pool has become inaccessible to her disabled daughter.

Jean Burgon, 81, from Ainsworth has been attending weekly ladies only sessions at Castle Leisure Centre with her daughter, Annette, 59, for the past four years.

Annette has multiple sclerosis (MS) and uses a wheelchair.

She relies on a pool hoist, which is a portable lifting device aiding people with restricted mobility, to access the main pool safely.

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Managed by Bury Council, the Bolton Street centre has a 25m main pool and a smaller separate teaching pool.

The main pool hoist has been out of use for almost a month, meaning that Annette can no longer use the facilities.

Jean said: “We arrived for our swim with Annette in her wheelchair and got changed in the fitting rooms.

“It was only when we tried to get her in the pool that we were informed about the broken hoist.

“To be fair to them, the staff were amazing. They spent almost an hour dismantling and moving the hoist from the small pool.

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“However, it doesn’t go fully into the water so wasn’t a suitable replacement.”

Annette added: “I love going to the swim sessions. They are a really lovely group of ladies there and the lifeguards are always willing to go above and beyond to help.

“It’s just a shame about the facilities. The door in the disabled changing room door doesn’t shut properly when my wheelchair is in there and the shower room is shared with families.

“I have been asking for things like handrails and grab bars to be added to the shower rooms for years but keep getting told that there is no money for it.”

On 26 July, the centre shared an update on Facebook stating that the main pool hoist was “currently out of use awaiting maintenance” and that the hoist for the teaching pool was unaffected.

Jean also criticised the centre for the lack of contact options, with customers being instructed to use an online portal to book sessions.

She added: “It’s not like I can call ahead to see if the hoist is working as they no longer have a phone system for customers so I can’t speak to anyone.

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“It’s the only exercise that she [Annette] gets so we’re stuck until it’s repaired.

“It’s not just us being impacted either. A lot of disabled teenagers use the pool and are in the same situation.

“Again, it’s not the staff’s fault. It’s just frustrating and they can’t give us a date when it’ll be back up again”.

A spokesperson for Bury Council said: “Bury Leisure are aware of this issue and the required repair works have been commissioned.

"Due to health and safety concerns following a service inspection our immediate focus was to ensure customers were not at risk and had to remove the main pool hoist immediately.

"There is provision for pool access in the small pool at Castle Leisure Centre which has a hoist and can be used by customers as an alternative.

"The main pool at Ramsbottom pool and fitness centre also has hoist access.

"We are in constant contact with the contractor, and we are working hard to get the repair completed as soon as possible.

"We are confident all repair works will be completed by the end of September 2024.

"We apologise for any inconvenience caused. ”