SINCE September the organisation of the public swimming baths in St Helens has been in a state of continuous change, to the detriment of regular swimmers and, I believe, the majority of staff. A recent notice at Parr Pool advises that certain 'Early Morning Swim' finish times will be cut back from 9.30 to 9am.

However, this is a small change compared with the major alterations and re-alterations at the start of the present school year, which seemed calculated to induce regular adult swimmers to use Boundary Road Pool, which, unfortunately, is too small to accommodate both long-distance and 'splashabout' fun swimmers, in any great numbers. The swimming club for disabled persons was also forced to move, by various deleterious timetable revisions, to Sunday swimming.

I understand that these moves were accompanied by major reductions in front-line staffing levels, such as receptionists and relief pool attendants, and I have also been told that the contract for schools transport to the baths was placed with a cheaper provider. My informant claimed that this resulted in certain schools abandoning use of the baths, as they considered the alternative buses unsuitable, due to lack of seat belts. For the moment, as a retired person, I can fit around the changing schedules, although I have chosen to give up my Sunday afternoon swim. However, I am scared that this admission may prompt even more alterations to the Parr timetables and I am also apprehensive about the future of our public swimming pools, in general.

Large pools are obviously expensive to provide but the activity is highly recommended by health professionals, particularly for older people and those with disabilities that make jogging or gym work inadvisable. Children should also be given the opportunity to learn to swim, for both their health and safety. For these reasons, I think the council have a duty to make suitable pools available, even if they run at a loss. My suspicion is that they intend to run the existing facilities down to the point where those customers who can afford to do so, will switch to private health clubs.

I hope this letter provokes a denial from the council, together with an explanation of the ultimate objectives behind the current flurry of changes. By their own admission, they are "excellent" and can afford to produce a glossy magazine to say so.

Fred Kaye, Rose Drive, Rainford