A SWIMMING pool rescued by volunteers for community use will reopen to the public this weekend.

Campaigners in Weardale have fought to save the pool at Wolsingham for a year after Wear Valley District Council said it could no longer pay a £20,000 annual subsidy.

Its closure in March last year prompted the people of Weardale to try to find a way of running it themselves.

Now the campaigners have launched themselves as Wolsingham Community Pool Limited and will reopen the pool, which is on the site of Wolsingham School, this Saturday, at 10am, in time for the half-term school holidays.

Dave Pearson, one of the directors, said a lot of hard work was paying off.

He said: "It has been very hard. We have been meeting once a week and individuals have been doing other things during the week to try and bring everything together.

"We were all novices in running a pool and we have had to learn everything from scratch.

"It will be worth it when we see the kids jump into the pool on Saturday.''

The group has employed a new manager and three life guards, who are all local, but will still be relying on volunteers to help with the everyday running.

Mr Pearson said: "Each of the five directors will do one night a week on the reception so we can save money."

He also said that Durham County Council had supported the project and has paid out £30,000 to reline the pool and carry out other maintenance work.

He said: "The County Council has been very helpful and has supported us as far as it could."

The pool will be run on a four-year lease while opportunities are explored to build a new one in its place in the future.

Durham County Council's chief executive, Kingsley Smith, said that the county council would continue to work with the group.