NEW rules at Ilkley swimming Pool have left parents angry that they can no longer take their children swimming.

All children under four years old have to be accompanied 'one to one' by a person over 16, and children between four and seven years old on a 'two adults to one child basis'.

Previously, all children under eight had to be accompanied on a 'two to one' basis. Children over the age of eight can use the pool by themselves.

The rules have been applied across the whole of Bradford's swimming pools following the publication of new guidelines by the Institute of Sport and Recreation Management (ISRM).

But the safety rules mean that the Elgood family of Grove Road, Ilkley, can't go swimming together for the next three years.

Martin and Maria Elgood have three children, aged five, three-and-a-half, and one. Another child is due in April.

So until the oldest child is eight and can go to the pool alone, leaving dad to look after the baby, and mum to look after the other two who will be six and four, the family can't go to a pool in Bradford, to swim together.

Mrs Elgood said: "We want to go swimming as a family on a Sunday but we would not be able to do that. It is a bit tricky and it makes it very difficult."

She said the only alternative was for the family to join a private swimming club but that would prove much more expensive than the local authority pool.

Mr Elgood has written to Ilkley district and parish councillor Anne Hawkesworth, who is Bradford's environment boss, to complain about the situation.

In the letter he says: "These regulations are not in the interests of children. I am having trouble structuring an argument which assuages my children's disappointment on this one. Can you provide one?"

Another Ilkley mum, Sophie van Berckel, of Bridge Lane, is also annoyed about the new regulations.

She said: "As a mother of two children under the age of five who has regularly enjoyed the use of Ilkley Pool over the last three years, I was astonished to read of the new 'safety standards' which Bradford Council has chosen to introduce.

"These new restrictions amount to a virtual ban on us going swimming as a family. We, along with many other young families, will no longer be able to enjoy the weekly family swim sessions until my youngest child is four years old.

"The benefits of learning to swim at an early age are widely recognised and encouraged yet our freedom to take young families into swimming pools from an early age is now curbed by poorly thought out regulations."

But one of the people responsible for the new regulations has defended them on safety grounds.

Linda Bishop-Bailey is a consultant for the Leicester-based ISRM. She said: "This guidance is really important in terms of protecting children. There have been too many instances of children drowning in swimming pools.

"At the end of the day they would far rather make a few extra arrangements than lose their kids."

Mrs Bishop-Bailey said that at a recent inquest in London, after the drowning of a child in a swimming pool, the Coroner suggested that the new guidance should be applied in all swimming pools.

But she added that each pool should have a risk assessment carried out to discover in what circumstances the rules could be relaxed. Where there was a separate shallow toddler pool or in special sessions where more lifeguards were on duty would both qualify.

Toddler sessions on Thursday afternoons at Ilkley have different rules, the Gazette understands. People wanting to attend should contact the pool, on Denton Road, for details.

In council swimming pools under the Leeds authority, the rule that all children under eight have to be supervised on a two to one basis still applies.

Coun Hawkesworth said: "The safety of young children and that of all swimming pool users is paramount."