Crisis at Lambeth Leisure Centres as visitors drop by 43%

4.01.00pm UTC (GMT +0000) Wed 19th Dec 2007

Usage at the Streatham Leisure Centre is down 39% on last year.

Liberal Democrats on Lambeth Council have published figures which reveal a crisis in the Borough's Leisure Centres.

After the council delayed revealing the figures for 2 months, the detail shows that for the most recent month of the year for which figures are available the number of visitors the borough's centres dropped 43% on the same month last year.

The full figures show that for October 2007 compared to October 2006, some 45,000 fewer visits were made to the boroughs leisure centres.

The full details are:

Streatham Leisure Centre - down 39%

Clapham Leisure Centre - down 15%

Brixton Leisure Centre - down 53%

Ferndale Leisure Centre - down 53%

Flaxman Leisure Centre - down 54%

"Earlier this year Labour Councillors agreed to raise prices by up to a quarter. And they've had a catastrophic impact on the number of people using the leisure centres," said Liberal Democrat Group Leader on Lambeth Council Ashley Lumsden.

Filthy changing rooms at Streatham Leisure centre are turning people away from visiting

"And not only that but many residents have complained that facilities are broken and the changing rooms are filthy."

Clapham Leisure Centre is threatened with closure and visits are down 15%

"January is a time when many people make new year's resolutions to get fit. But this year I am calling on Lambeth Council to resolve to reduce its prices to attract people to go swimming and visit the gym!" added Cllr Lumsden.