A TOWN'S leisure centre has had to close until further notice after the site was taken over by travellers.

On Thursday, Burnley Leisure announced it had taken the decision to close Padiham Leisure Centre until further notice due to continued anti-social behaviour from an illegal travellers encampment.

Head of leisure operations at Padiham Leisure Centre, Neil Hutchinson, said: "We have to put the safety of our staff and customers first and closing the site is a last resort."

Lancashire Telegraph:

Burnley Leisure is liaising with the police and with Burnley Council to resolve the situation as quickly as possible.

Leader of Burnley Council, Charlie Briggs, said: "The council are going to court on Friday to get an order to move the travellers.

"As far as I am aware they caused a few problems on Thursday, and on Sunday they went into the leisure centre and used the facilities, which the staff were fine about.

"However, two older lads then jumped in the pool and refused to get out.

"Staff had to phone the Leisure Trust and get security staff down."

On Friday morning, the travellers, who had parked around four caravans at the side of the leisure centre, were still at the site.

Customers who were unaware the centre had closed had also begun turning up for classes, only to find they couldn't access the leisure centre.

One customer who had come for an aerobics class, Mrs Jackson, said: "I use the leisure centre nearly every day, so does my husband.

"They've been here since Sunday; I don't know what they've been doing but the place was open yesteday.

"It's not much fun when you turn up for a lesson and find it's not on."

Lancashire Telegraph:

Julie McGough, who also lives in Padiham said: "It absolutely stinks round the back of the leisure centre. I think they've been using it as a toilet.

"There's dogs died up everywhere, the kids can't come down to play here now.

"I heard that they'd been trying to use the facilities in Tesco as they were parked in there before they came here.

"They were asking if they had showers.

"It's a mess round there. There's washing hung up all over the fire exit doors, it's disgusting.

"They've no respect for anything. When they go they'll leave all their mess and rubbish and it'll be up to others to clean it up.

Lancashire Telegraph:

"It's the school holidays and you can't let your kids come down to play and they now can't go in the leisure centre.

"The gym and the pool are really popular and now they can't be used.

"We wouldn't mind so much if they respected the environment they were in but they don't."

Burnley Leisure said it wanted apologise to customers for any inconvenience caused.

A spokesperson for the police said: "We are aware of the situation and can confirm we are working with the council to resolve the issue."

At 3pm on Friday a Burnley Council spokesperson issued the following statement: "Padiham Leisure Centre will re-open at 3:30 pm today with all activities and classes resuming after travellers left the site earlier.

"A clear-up operation is taking place to restore the area to its proper state.

"We're pleased this aggravating and disruptive situation has been resolved quickly and we can get back to normal operations. I'm sure everyone who uses Padiham Leisure Centre will also be happy to see it re-open.

"The travellers left as the council, on behalf of Burnley Leisure which runs the leisure centre, was in court successfully applying for a possession order to move them off the site.

"The decision to close the leisure centre yesterday (Thursday) was not taken lightly and was a last resort. We have a duty of care to our customers, and to our staff who faced verbal abuse and threats from some of the travellers who were misusing the centre's facilities.

"We apologise again for the inconvenience this has caused but we are very pleased to be able to re-open the leisure centre as quickly as possible."