We are delighted to provide the welcome respite of a cool dip in the hot weather, but it means demand is high and people are often having to queue in the hot sunshine – and no-one enjoys that.

So please have a look at Queueing in the hot weather so you know what to expect. It explains what we do, and why we do it.

People ask why we don't have pre-booking and the reason for this is that we are a (charitable) public service and we want to ensure that people who don't have the facilities to book on-line are not excluded on busy days. The sessions you see on the timetable are all turn-up-and-pay on the gate.

There are a lot of apparently unfilled slots on the timetable, but the pool isn't standing idle at these times. It is being used for schools, swimming lessons, private bookings, training and some special classes.

And we are doing our best to make more short-notice (cheaper – £45) bookings available to help meet the demand, and perhaps reduce the pressure on public sessions