WEST Somerset's main swimming pool has been forced to close for at least six weeks after a faulty thermostat caused £18,500 of damage.

There are now real fears many of the area's most talented young swimmers will miss out on crucial county swimming championships as their training schedule has been thrown into disarray.

Hundreds more casual swimmers will have to travel to Taunton to use the town's public swimming pool, and the closure could spell disaster for the many young club swimmers who were hoping to go for county honours next month.

The pool at Minehead's Aquasplash Centre had already been scheduled to close for a week at the end of January for a £9,000 overhaul.

That programme of work has been scaled down to save money and will now be done while the pool is closed throughout this month.

Problems began on New Year's Eve when temperatures in the pool's outdoor condenser plunged to minus 15 degrees centigrade.

A thermostat failed to cut in and stop the fans on the condenser drawing in cold air when the temperature reached a moderate five degrees above freezing.

As a result, the air-chill factor caused temperatures in the unit to plummet and a pipe burst, flooding the condenser and damaging it beyond repair.

West Somerset District Council is hoping its insurers will pick up the £18,500 cost of buying and installing a replacement, although that has yet to be confirmed.

The thermostat was only serviced in November when, according to the services division of Bristol-based firm Lorne Stewart, it was "proved to be working satisfactorily".

The council is now waiting for a technical assessment to be completed by an independent engineer and has ordered the replacement condenser in the interim.

Aquasplash manager Janice Malarkey said the condenser would take four weeks to be built and delivered but the cost of the work was not the council's main concern.

"It is the inconvenience to users that worries me most. We have built up a good relationship with our customers and then suddenly this happens," Mrs Malarkey said.

The council hopes that all the work will be completed before half term starts on February 11 and has pencilled in either February 7 or 9 as a provisional re-opening date.

It has been estimated the closure of the facility will cost the authority around £7,000 in lost income, part of which will be off-set by a saving of at least £2,500 from the usual costs of heating and running the pool.

Further savings have been made on the original £9,000 regular maintenance overhaul as work will no longer be done on the sauna, spa pool or slide and wave pool motors.

However, the water treatment system will be serviced as planned, while a five-year electricity test will be carried out and other equipment stripped down and serviced.

"We cut back on the repairs to bring the overall cost of this work down to £25,000," Mrs Malarkey said.

"We didn't think it would be fair to our essential users to close the gym or health suite facilities when the pool had been closed for six weeks," she said.

Currently, some 129 people hold membership cards to use the pool, as well as countless schoolchildren and swimming club members.

Cardholders will be able to use either the Aquasplash Centre gym or Taunton Swimming Pool free of charge during the closure, while plans are being made to give swimming club members access to Quantock Lodge pool in Over Stowey.

Minehead Swimming Club coach Colin Christmas said the closure had "absolutely floored" the club as the competitive programme was due to start on January 19, with county championships following on at the beginning of February.

"This couldn't have come at a worse time for us. This is our most important competitive time and it is possible some of our swimmers will not be able to take part in the championships," Mr Christmas said.

The clubs 70 or so competitive swimmers need to train for at least eight hours every week.

But they have been unable to train since Christmas and even if the club can transport some members to Quantock Lodge, it is unlikely to be on a daily basis.

"We're got real problems as even the nearest training opportunity will involve a journey of between 15 and 16 miles.

"It's a pity and we know it's not the council's fault, but it is going to badly affect us.

"Janice has been brilliant, though, helping us make alternative arrangements and keeping us informed all the way," Mr Christmas said.

The council's portfolio holder for leisure Cllr Simon Stokes said it was imperative people were kept informed of the situation at the pool.

He also wanted to stress that the rest of the centre's facilities were still open.

He said: "Obviously the pool is a major part of the facilities, but the gym and health spa is still open.

"It is unfortunate this situation has occurred and we are sorry for the inconvenience this has caused to our customers.

"We are doing our utmost to find alternatives for people and if they want to keep fit they can always use the gym."

He said people who paid up-front to use the pool would have their membership cards extended beyond the original expiry date to compensate for the closure.