WEST Somerset Council would have to find almost £5 million to build a new public swimming pool, plus an additional £150,000 a year to cover part of the running costs.

But even if money could be found to build a new pool, the council has been warned many people would not use it as there was nowhere to park at the authority's preferred development site.

Consultants who were paid £8,950 to carry out a study into the feasibility of building a new pool found parking was just one of a number of "constraints" at the chosen site - the existing car park alongside the West Somerset Sports and Leisure Centre within the West Somerset Community College campus.

They warned the ground levels and "space constraints" of the land would impact on the design and ongoing operation of the pool, while people would be deterred from using it as there was little or no parking.

However, the location meant that the pool could be physically linked to the existing sports centre, meaning its management could be shared with that already in operation at the sports facility.

At Wednesday's cabinet meeting, councillors said they were fully committed to providing a new pool, but accepted there was little more they could do at this stage due to financial pressures.

They were told the study, which was commissioned when the Independent Coalition was in control of the council and paid for by potential Hinkley C developer EDF Energy as part of its ongoing planning process, was "a detailed assessment of both the physical and financial feasibility of delivering a new community pool".

The results found there was clear evidence of a need for a new, six lane, 25-metre pool, even though many local swimming clubs were already happy with arrangements they had made since the closure of the Aquasplash pool in 2007.

But the clear message from consultants Sports Solutions GB and S and P Architects was that the project was simply not affordable without significant investment of capital and ongoing revenue support.

The council's executive director Adrian Dyer said: "Even though the council remains firmly committed to the aspiration of providing a new community swimming facility in West Somerset, the council's poor financial standing, which is anticipated to get worse when the scale of national cuts in public expenditure is known, means that it is not in a position to take any further direct action in response to the feasibility study."

However, he asked cabinet members to send a "formal request" to the governors of West Somerset Community College to ask them to safeguard the land as a potential site for a new pool.

Council leader Cllr Tim Taylor was supported by cabinet members when he said it was vital the district council also showed its commitment by earmarking its own land off Seaward Way as a potential car park to serve a new pool.

The consultants had warned there was a "high risk" potential swimmers would be deterred from using a new pool as parking on the college campus was already oversubscribed.

They estimated it would cost more than £380,000 a year to run a new pool, although more than half would be covered by income.

The remaining £150,000 "loss" would have to be met by the council.

Lead member for housing, environmental health and licensing, Cllr Keith Turner, said he could see little point in the feasibility study as it told members what they already knew - they could not afford a new pool.

But finance lead member Cllr Kate Kravis said she was confident it had been money well spent as the study meant the authority was ready to take action should funding ever become available.

"Everywhere I go, even after all these years, I still get people saying they want a pool," she said.

"There's a huge amount of public feeling about this and I wasn't happy just to sit back and say we couldn't afford it."

The district has been without a public pool since October 2007 when the former Aquasplash pool sprung a leak.

Four months after that councillors sounded the death knell for the centre and decided to close it completely to save money.

The site was later bulldozed despite an outcry from local people.

The authority had hoped to provide a replacement pool as part of the multi-million pound New Horizons 'healthplex' scheme off Seaward Way but had to pull the plug on the deal when council coffers ran dry.

Instead, investigations were carried out into the possibility of providing a £2 or £3 million replacement pool on the existing car park alongside the West Somerset Sports and Leisure Centre in Minehead.

However, according to the feasibility study, the actual cost of a new pool is double the council's original estimate.

The consultants also warned that the scheme would be unlikely to go ahead as external funding would not be forthcoming unless the council agreed to fund the majority of the work itself.

Only last month, councillors were told almost all of the £11.9 million proceeds from the sale of Minehead's Vulcan Road car park to supermarket giant Morrisons had already been used up paying off the authority's debts.

On Wednesday, Cllr Taylor warned that although EDF had covered the cost of the study, there was no guarantee any more money would be available and said the council could not just sit back and expect a windfall.