The future of a popular swimming pool has been secured for at least four years after councillors drew up a rescue package.

The £150,000 will be used for vital repairs to Billericay pool's crumbling building.

The agreement was made after tenant Diane Freeman-Wright claimed Basildon Council had failed to stand by an agreement to provide an annual grant to help maintain the council-owned facility in Radford Crescent.

She gave the council an ultimatum to come up with alleged payment arrears and a new leasehold by March 31 or she would pull out of the tenancy and start legal action. She took over the lease to run the pool in September 1991.

However, although the council has agreed to provide £38,000 a year for the next four years, it remains unclear if any backpayments are part of the deal.

Mrs Freeman-Wright today said she would be urgently seeking clarification of the rescue deal.

She added: "If the council has agreed to pay arrears as well as a new grant then that is beyond my wildest dreams."

Mrs Freeman-Wright said she had been forced to do "the worst" of the repairs but would use council money to repair the leaky roof over the pool.

She added: "It is a very popular pool and I have worked really hard. We have thousands of children of children through here every week and a huge amount of parents and students."

Councillor Sylvia Buckley (Con, Wickford South) said Basildon's community and leisure committee had agreed with new plans for running the swimming pool.

She said: "The tenant will receive all she is expecting. She has waited long enough.

"It is a four year tenancy and that safeguards the pool for the near future."

A Basildon Council spokeswoman confirmed the tenant's wishes had been agreed to but refused to discuss any details of the deal.

She added: "It is only fair to everyone concerned that we respect confidentiality on such matters."

Saved - Billericay's swimming pool

Pool tenant - Diane Freeman-Wright

Pictures: SAMUEL SMITH

Converted for the new archive on 19 November 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.