A MAJOR £345,000 refurbishment of Otley's neglected public swimming baths is finally underway.

But a former chairman of Otley Advisory Sports Council has warned that it will be hard work to encourage disillusioned swimmers back.

And he has added the work, although welcome, will only return The Chippendale Pool to how it was 25 years ago.

Work to the pool, at Prince Henry's Grammar School, will include refurbished changing rooms, a new roof over the pool and new heating boilers.

The whole area will also be redecorated and there will be new filtration and ventilation systems.

The Mayor, Councillor Phil Coyne (Lab, Otley and Wharfedale), who added £20,000 of his Ward Based Initiative Money towards the cost of the refurbishment, said: "I'm pleased to see work is finally in progress at the swimming baths.

"We've had to wait a long time, but once these ambitious works are completed, the people of Otley will have a first class swimming pool. Having seen the plans, I'm sure the new facilities will have been worth waiting for."

But John Morgan, former chairman of Otley Sports Council and a former chairman of Otley Swimming Club, says the pool has been neglected for so long that people now swim at Harrogate, Guiseley and Ilkley.

And he has added that, although welcome, the work is only a refurbishment and will only take the pool back to as it was when it was first opened in the mid 1970s.

"It's not going to be fantastic, all the work is maintenance.

"The trouble is going to be to let people know about it, they're going to have to do an awful lot of publicity."

He said in its prime, the pool was used by schools, a thriving Otley Swimming Club, which once had more than 300 junior members, as well as weekend and evening users.

But steady neglect over the years has eventually put people off.

In December 2000, Prince Henry's was forced to put £20,000 of its own money into urgent repair work at the pool.

People have also been put off by the delay in the start of work - originally expected in August last year.

"By the end there was hardly anyone using it. The swimming club is in limbo and even the Sunday morning swim by the governors of the school had gone down," said Mr Morgan.

But Coun John Eveleigh, leader of Otley Town Council, added it was great news for Otley.

Coun Eveleigh was one of the driving forces behind a £1.6 million lottery bid in 2000 to improve sports facilities at Prince Henry's - including the overhaul of the pool. When the joint Leeds City Council and PHGS bid failed - because of a lack of support from the community - Coun Eveleigh launched a petition and arranged for the bid to be re-examined.

Coun Eveleigh said: "The council has invested a great deal of money in this project and the benefits will be felt by Otley residents when the pool opens next Spring."