A pensioner has complained after being barred from a family swim session at a Pool he has used for 30 years.

David Moorhouse, 73, said he was stunned when a new manager at Queensbury Pool prevented him from taking his regular morning swim.

“She asked me where my children were,” Mr Moorhouse said.

“I said ‘One’s just home from a nightshift at the BRI and the other two will be at work’.

“I thought she was joking at first and then she said I couldn’t go in because I was unaccompanied.

“I asked her why and she said ‘paedos’. I just felt sick.’ “This is society gone paranoid. I have been using that pool for more than 30 years.

“I go twice a week for my arthritis. All the staff know me as ‘David’ – we’re on first-name terms. It just shattered my day.”

The former soldier said in previous school holidays he had always been allowed into family swim sessions. He said: “When I told her this she said she would let me in on that occasion but never again. She said it was their policy.

“But I wasn’t going to be let in like that – I just went home upset.

“I know they have to be careful nowadays and be on their guard but common sense should have prevailed. It’s not as if I was some stranger who had never been to the baths before.”

John Coulton, Bradford Council’s sports facilities manager, said: “Family swimming sessions are strictly for parents with children. No-one else should be allowed in, even if the pool is quiet and the staff know the customers. We have to apply the rules consistently and be aware of child-protection issues.

“There are 30 hours a week when Mr Moorhouse could use Queensbury Pool. There was an over-50s session before the family swim on Tuesday and an adults-only session after it. During term-time the pool is closed to the public in the mornings for school swimming but we have extra family sessions in the school holidays.

“We understand it was Mr Moorhouse who used the term ‘paedos’, not our member of staff.”