LEISURE officers have come under fire following the partial closure of Crewe baths.

The sauna and Pulse Fitness Suite are to remain open during a full structural survey of the building.

Angry pool user Barrie Durkin is calling for the resignation of the council's top legal and leisure managers.

"Leisure Committee chairman, Jayne Wright should also consider her position," he said.

He is accusing the bosses of totally ignoring instruction from elected members.

"Like me, they thought they had agreed to the closing of the whole Flag Lane building for the survey. Now we find that the managers have taken it upon themselves to ignore our elected members and their democratic decision," he added.

He claims they have also flouted the council's own rule book.

"The authority's bylaws clearly state that reference to the Flag Lane baths should include "any accommodation therein", he said.

Head of Leisure Byron Davies has defended the partial closure.

"The sauna and fitness suite are not causing concern. They are safe. It is just the pool area itself that needs looking at and we have also closed the public viewing gallery," he said.

A number of members agree with him. Conservative group leisure spokesman Brian Silvester said he had assumed that the whole building was to be examined but after studying reports by consultant constructural engineers he was satisfied that closure of the sauna and fitness suite was not necessary at this stage.

But Liberal Democrat Gwyn Griffiths felt it was!

"I was under the impression that the whole building was going to be closed. I would say it makes sense to shut everything down, get the building surveyed quickly and if the sauna and fitness suite are given the all clear then open them as soon as possible," he said.

Mr Durkin, a retired building demolition and dismantling engineer, claims that his own observations and reports he has seen indicate that there are problems with the fabric of the building at a lower level.

He has sent a letter to every councillor calling on them to question the managers' decision.

"If the dangerous precedent is to prevail then surely the days of our elected members are numbered," he writes

Last week Leisure Committee members voted unanimously for a full structural survey of the Flag Lane building in the interests of public safety and public confidence in the authority.

The move followed the fourth temporary closure because material from the roof or walls had fallen.

Borough wide consultation on the future of the Crewe and Nantwich baths is proposed.

Options include a new pool for Crewe with funding from a partner or grant aid and spending £1.5million on refurbishing Nantwich indoor pool and putting a sliding roof on the outdoor pool.

The council has already earmarked £200,000 to improve the Crewe pool pending the result of the structural survey.

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