The Flamingo Pool in Axminster has lost £50,000 during coronavirus lockdown, it has been revealed.

In a statement issued yesterday, the Flamingo Pool team said the loss had been incurred despite ensuring all amenities were scaled back to save as much money as possible.

Although the government has announced that indoor pools can reopen from this Saturday (July 25), the Flamingo Pool, run by the Axe Valley Swimming Association, a registered charity, will remain closed for the time being for financial viability reasons.

The statement continued: "A group called UK Active and Community Active UK have launched a national Save Leisure campaign asking the government for £773 million to help make up the leisure industry shortfall.

"Without it, there is a prediction that half the UK leisure centre will be out of business by Christmas.

"Whilst we are continuously trying our very best to remain positive and working tirelessly applying for all grants available, the message for the public of Axminster and surrounding area is 'support us or lose out'."

The pool is appealing to supporters to add their support to this campaign by using the hashtag #saveleisure.

The statement concluded: "We are all very excited to see you again and thank everyone for their ongoing support during this difficult period. We will update again as soon as we can."