Brightlingsea Lido forced to close for two days after 'contamination'

Brightlingsea Lido, in Promenade Way, Brightlingsea, was unable to open yesterday following the incident.

“Human faeces” was the culprit, it has been revealed.

It was bad news again for swimmers hoping for a Friday afternoon dip as the team confirmed the historic 50-metre lido would be remaining closed for a second day.

Pool - Brightlingsea Lido is one-of-a-kind in Essex (Image: Archant)

It is hoped the pool will re-open tomorrow following a 36-hour cleaning process, which is good news ahead of what is set to be a scorching hot weekend.

A spokeswoman for the lido said: “We can confirm the water was contaminated by human faeces.

“We are following our emergency operating procedures and cleaning the water through a series of filtration and dosing measures which takes approximately 36 hours.

“Clearly our priority is safety and we hope to open again Saturday. We will post updates on our Facebook page.

“We would like to thank the customers on site on Thursday for their considerate evacuation of the pool and our lifeguards for their prompt action.

“We would also like to express our gratitude to our volunteers for their calm response to the situation and for their assistance in contacting our evening swimmers and aquacise group as quickly as we were able to.

“We are sorry for this disruption and appreciate everyone's patience and understanding.”

The team will organise refunds or rebookings for swimmers who had pre-booked a visit over the last two days.

The unfortunate episode comes less than three weeks after Brightlingsea Lido re-opened for the summer season.

The pool first opened in 1932 and it is the only remaining public lido in Essex.

It was saved from closure in 2018 after Brightlingsea Town Council agreed to take on the lease from Tendring Council.

In that summer, a volunteer group was formed to take over the facility which relaunched with record attendance numbers thanks to a sizzling summer, and it is still ran by a team of dedicated volunteers today.

The site is also home to Café Lido which offers up tasty treats.