HUNDREDS of people have signed a petition calling for an under-threat swimming pool to be saved.

Community groups working with the elderly and disabled have expressed disbelief that Stoke-on-Trent City Council officials are proposing to close Shelton Pool.

Members of the Shelton Swimming for Therapy Club yesterday described their shock that the authority is even considering shutting the public baths they have been using twice a week for 30 years.

And leaders have warned the group may be forced to disband if the Simon Place pool closes.

The club, which has 37 members aged from 60 to 83, says the centre is vital, because it is the only one in the area with a warm water temperature for use by those with disabilities and special needs.

Secretary John Harbron, from Trentham, will put its case to the authority's full council meeting next Thursday.

And the 73-year-old said the group had written to each of the city's councillors, while a petition had already attracted about 400 names.

Retired miner Mr Harbron said: "The club helps disabled people socialise and it also improves their quality of life.

"It is ridiculous what they are proposing. We have got six special needs schools which use this centre and eight different disabled groups as well.

"This city should be proud that it's got a pool like this to accommodate these people, instead of trying to shut it down."

Members are regularly referred to the group to help with their disabilities and physiotherapy.

Members include a polio sufferer, a paraplegic, a stroke victim and several heart bypass surgery patients.

They are drawn by the pool's disabled access facilities and because water is kept at a warmer-than-usual 90 degrees.

The group, a registered charity, pays the council £122-a-week to hire the pool for two private sessions, despite members being eligible for free public swimming sessions elsewhere. Money comes from subscriptions and fund-raising exercises.

Social secretary Janet Cook, pictured, aged 63, from Blurton has been a member for 30 years.

The retired hairdresser said: "I had a spinal operation and this is my physio. There is no other physio for my particular complaint, so without it I would deteriorate."

Helper Rosemary Swinnerton, aged 71, from Blurton, first started using the group after late husband Maurice had a stroke in 1979.

The retired local government worker said: "It does immense good for disabled people."

The over-subscribed swimming therapy group was founded by social services in 1979, six years after Shelton Pool opened, but was taken over by members in 1980 and is now a registered charity.

But it is not the only group which says that Shelton Pool is vital.

Members of the pool's osteoarthritis aquafit scheme also use the warm waters twice weekly for tutor-led exercises and are referred by a range of health providers.

Retired supermarket assistant manager Norma O'Grady, aged 72, from Adderley Green, said: "It is vital."

The proposed closure comes as part of a raft of cuts put forward to save almost £45 million over the next three years.

Officials have said the building has "significant" operating costs and add it would cost £750,000 to get the building up to standard.

Councillor Derek Capey said: "Proposals for Shelton Pool remain just that – they are proposals. No decisions have yet been made."

The budget will be set at a meeting of the full council on February 25.