Shrewsbury’s public swimming pool has been closed after a pipe carrying its main water supply collapsed.

The collapse was discovered at the Shropshire Council-run Quarry Swimming and Leisure Centre in the town on Saturday afternoon.

The problem caused water to leak across a large section of Victoria Avenue – the road which leads to the centre.

The pool was immediately closed and remained shut yesterday, when workmen moved in to work on the damaged pipe.

The leisure centre remained closed today as work to repair the problem continued, but council officials said they were hopeful they would be able to re-open it to the public by tomorrow.

Paul Clark, central area leisure manager for Shropshire Council, said the leak was discovered on Saturday afternoon when it was found that no water was available in the building.

Mr Clark said: “The Quarry Swimming and Leisure Centre is closed today because of a collapsed water pipe, which carries the main supply of water to the centre.

“The leak was discovered on Saturday and the centre was closed on Saturday afternoon because there was no water available in the building.

“Work started yesterday and is continuing today to fix the problem, and it is hoped the centre will be open tomorrow.

“We apologise to customers for any inconvenience.”

It is not yet known how much revenue has been lost to the authority as a result of the swimming pool’s enforced closure.

Last year, the swimming centre underwent a £250,000 refurbishment project, which saw an upgrade of services at the site.

The future of the centre is one of the top priorities for the recently-formed Shropshire Council.

Three options have been suggested over what to do with the centre, including refurbishing the existing site, costing about £9.6 million.

Other options include demolishing the building and replacing it with a new pool at a cost of £7.75 million or building an “out of town” site at a cost of about £7.6 million.

By Andrew Morris