SWINDON will lose a community pool where Olympic swimmer Jaime King first started training.

New College has sold off part of its Richard Jeffries site in Parks and Walcot for housing to finance an £11 million college building and £1.5 million sports hall.

The new sports hall has been officially given the go ahead by councillors and could be open by January.

But it does not include a pool and the existing facility at the nearby Richard Jeffries site will close in December.

Principal Graham Taylor explained the decision not to replace the pool was made three years ago when the plans for the new development were first drawn up, but did not rule out opening a new pool in the future.

He said: "We took advice from swimming associations in Wiltshire and were told Swindon is well served for pools.

"We were losing about £20,000 a year on the pool and explained our decision to the community three years ago.

"It wasn't a large pool and though we spent money a few years ago on retiling it we knew it wasn't going to be around for much longer.

"Our next stage will be a community all weather sports facilities, and after that we may look at opening a new pool."

Three time Olympic swimmer Jaime, 25, a former New College pupil and Swindon Dolphin member, said: "I'm sad to hear the pool is closing but equally I don't know the exact circumstances and reasons for the closure.

"Swimming is a low priority in many schools and it is becoming harder to get young people interested in sport.

"There doesn't seem to be the awareness of what you can do at pools and how much fun it is. When I swim abroad big groups of children are given tickets to the meets but there doesn't seem to be that culture in England."

Mark Gray, spokesman for Swindon Dolphin Amateur Swimming Club said: "We are grateful to have had the use of the facility but are disappointed to lose it. In our opinion there are not enough pools in Swindon because we struggle to get all the swimming time we can, having to make weekly trips to Bath to complete our full programme of development.

"But the fact they are considering opening a new pool sometime in the future is positive, and we would look forward to helping them realise their plans as a centre of excellence for sport."

The new sports hall will include a sports hall the size of four badminton courts, a fully equipped gym, fitness suite and changing rooms.

The new sports hall will be available to hire by residents and groups.

The Government's Learn-ing and Skills Council will stump up £500,000 towards the new scheme, with the college paying the remaining £1 million.