Campaigners fighting the closure of an historic Bradford swimming pool will hold a candlelit vigil to highlight their continuing battle to keep it open.

Bradford Council will shut Manning-ham swimming baths, along with Rhodesway pool, in Allerton, on Friday, despite protesters’ claims that the authority has not fully consulted the public.

The Manningham Baths Action Committee held a demonstration in the car park of the Edwardian pool in Carlisle Road on Saturday afternoon, where they collected more signatures to add to a 300-name petition against the planned closure.

The candlelit vigil will be held after what is expected to be the last adult swim at the pool on Friday.

Bradford Council said it had made the tough decision to close the pool following a “thorough consultation” with pool users.

But Bruce Barnes, secretary of the group, said: “The Council has decided this closure without consulting people.

“I think people are very, very angry about this, but there is still a lot of water to run under the bridge. We will not throw in the towel.”

The Victorian Society, which values the Grade II-listed baths for its Edwardian architecture, is supporting the campaigners’ position.

The society and the action committee forced a re-think by the Council in May, when the authority agreed to take an in-depth look at how the pool closure would affect the community. They called for an Equality Impact Assess-ment to be carried out to decide whether its proposed closure would negatively affect any particular groups, such as Muslims or the elderly.

Yesterday, Mr Barnes said: “They agreed to carry out a full assessment but then they wrote to everybody saying they were going to close the pool on July 8.

“It is impossible for people to have a proper discussion when the pool is already shut.”

When the Council revealed the pool’s intended closure, it promised to consider alternative methods of running it and invited bids from outside groups to take it on. That brought in expressions of interest to take over both Manning-ham and Rhodesway, but none of the business cases put forward were accepted by the Council.

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