I am writing to correct the misapprehensions of your correspondent

Firstly, he seems to be under the mistaken impression that the pool is run by Filey Swimming Club and that certainly is not the case. It is owned and run by North Yorkshire County Council through Filey School from whom we hire it in the same way as other pool users.

Secondly, as a club affiliated to the Amateur Swimming Association, we must abide by their rules and our own constitution which includes the charging of membership fees which, incidentally, were only £5 per year for open sessions. It was with extreme reluctance on the part of the club that open sessions were discontinued at the end of 2008; it would have been financial suicide had they continued any longer.

Filey School also tried putting on open sessions during the summer but their experience was identical to ours in that the attendance was so poor that they were discontinued a couple of years ago.

Those who seemingly "do not see why having open sessions for anyone couldn't work" may like to reconsider their view.

I would again mention here the membership fee which, as a club, we are obliged to charge, but surely £5 a year cannot by anyone be considered exorbitant or off-putting.

We would be delighted to recommence open sessions if sufficient attendance could be guaranteed to avoid the large financial loss we have suffered over the past few years.

I can assure the correspondent that advertising does not work in this instance. Possibly more salubrious and modern facilities would but that is something over which we have no control.

We are mystified by the references to "club culture" and "select few"; anyone could, and can, join, and, as stated before, we do not run the pool but merely hire it from Filey School at the same cost as everyone else, plus we pay for our own lifeguards.

We continued with the open sessions for a considerable period, during which they were not financially viable, with a resultant large financial loss which we are now struggling to recoup.

Mrs Josephine Ford

Secretary

Filey Swimming Club

The Croft, Filey