HASLINGDEN Pool will shut its doors for the last time on Sunday, November, 3.

The decision to shut the baths in East Bank Avenue, which opened in the 1930s, was decided at a council meeting last week after a consultation period of more than two years.

A community group, the Friends of Haslingden Baths, worked with council officials to draw up a plan for them to take on running the pool at a reduced cost to the council.

However the council said the Friends’ plan was not viable and would still require the council to spend too much during a time of swingeing cuts to the budget.

It currently costs the council £137,000 a year to keep open.

A spokesman for Rossendale Leisure Trust, which runs the pool, said: “The council understands that some people will be unhappy about the pool closure. But the council’s financial situation has meant that nothing further can be done to keep it open.

"Work is ongoing to help reduce the impact on those affected as far as possible. Rossendale Leisure Trust will continue to work with the users of Haslingden Swimming Pool as the closure is implemented to signpost users to alternative swim times and venues.”