LEISURE centres in Oxford will not reopen their indoor pools today as clubs’ frustrations show no sign of ending.

Facilities across the UK are allowed to welcome customers from this morning in the latest relaxation of coronavirus restrictions.

But the pool at Ferry Leisure Centre in Summertown will not be back in action until after Hinksey’s outdoor facility closes, with the latter itself only opening on August 8.

Meanwhile, no date has been set for pools at Barton or The Leys leisure centres, which causes a headache for City of Oxford.

The club are fortunate that they can use Oxford High School from tomorrow, but will have to find another base when pupils return in September.

Nick Richmond, City of Oxford’s treasurer, said: “We’re rebuilding our revenue base but we’re financially distressed.

“The longer this goes on, the more difficulty we find ourselves in.

“We have a huge amount of frustration.”

All of the club’s squads are back today, but their Learn to Swim scheme will not restart until next month.

Swimmers will be following a reduced programme with several restrictions in place, including limiting each lane to a maximum of four people, temperature checks and designated entry and exit points.

Richmond added: “We’ve thought about our response to the virus in every aspect.

“Most of our members want to get in the pool, but inevitably there are some anxious people so we’re trying to cater for them as well.”

Linda Smith, Oxford City Council’s cabinet member for leisure and parks, admitted it was a difficult situation but asked for patience.

She said: “We need to open facilities in a safe way to control the cost to the council.

“How fast we can do that really depends on how much confidence the public have in returning.

“It’s really a question of the council to weighing up competing priorities.”

She added: “It’s really important to have something available in the city.

“People will have to travel a bit further, but we really hope they’ll bear with us.”

Bicester Blue Fins are in a similar position to City of Oxford, with their usual base unlikely to be back in action anytime soon.

The pool at Bicester Leisure Centre will remain closed, with head coach Craig Oliver not expecting it to open until September 13.

Instead, Blue Fins will hold sessions 12 miles away at Stowe School in Buckingham for four weeks from Monday, August 3.

Swimmers will be grouped into ‘bubbles’ based on age and ability as part of a wave of safety measures and Oliver admitted the club have had enough time to work out which restrictions to put in place.

He said: “The government kept changing the goalposts, so we’ve done plenty to prepare.”