CUMBRIA County Council have responded to angry residents of Millom after the demolition of the historic pool.

The pool which was demolished on Monday when diggers moved in and began razing the building to the ground.

Mayor, Jane Micklethwaite said: "I'm absolutely disgusted, we'd fought it all the way.

"We could have repaired it, which was our original plan from the start.

"Our civil engineers that we brought in gave us an estimate of around £20,000 to make temporary repairs on the pool to keep it open for another two or three years.

"The number that I read when I looked into the cost of demolition was £44,000.

"I think they did it cause we were going to take out a judicial review against them.

"I have to say I'm rather suspicious because of this, but I can't say it definitely was.

"Millom Town Council have supported keeping the pool open from the start.

"I'm concerned about key stage two pupils in the area learning to swim now, as we have no pool and other pools in the area are too far away to commute to."

The pool was originally constructed in the 60s by prisoners from nearby HMP Haverigg to give young children the opportunity to learn to swim.

The pool closed last year after upkeep costs became too much for the county council to continue financing, as well as being deemed unsafe after structural issues, and a leak in the pool were found, along with both boilers nearing failure on a carbon monoxide test.

A spokeswoman for Cumbria County Council said: "The official cost of demolition for the building is £39,337 which is fixed amount that will not change regardless of time taken.

"Security will cost £5760, but this will go down if the work is completed quicker than expected.

"Additional costs for barriers will be just over £1,000, but the reason for that is because its a building site which is for public safety.

"It's standard procedure to keep young children or any adults from trespassing.

"After hearing from various parties we can confirm it is not a state requirement to have a swimming pool unfortunately.

"Cumbria County Council has made a gesture of good will, as we can provide the land free of charge for their pool to be built on free of charge."