A SWIMMING pool which took a whole week to fill with water was ruined by one night of heavy

rain.

Muddy water flooded into the open-air pool at Ilkley Lido, on Denton Road, as torrential rain swelled the River Wharfe in the early hours of Sunday.

Bradford Council workers had spent a week refilling the 350,000-gallon pool, which is the largest in the district.

The huge lagoon-shaped pool was emptied, cleaned and re-filled ready for the crowds expected in the summer season, after April showers left the water murky. But over the weekend, water flooded from the nearby river into the pool, leaving staff with another major clean-up

operation.

The pool attendants had to empty the pool once more, and are now busy mopping up mud and cleaning it, before starting to fill the pool yet again.

A council spokeswoman said the pool will be closed for ten days while it is cleaned and refilled.

She said the heated pool and the caf were not affected, and are open for business as usual.

l Farmers and businesses have been left counting the cost of flood damage after the river wharfe burst its banks at the weekend.

In Addingham, a number of properties suffered flooding to their cellars and a number of roads in the area were

closed.

In Ilkley an emergency meeting was called in anticipation of the floods but the town escaped without major damage.

However, further downstream at Castley, six homes were

flooded, including one where

a resident drowned some years ago, and eight pigs were

drowned by the rising waters at a farm.

In Otley the cattle market ended up several inches under water while six pedal operated boats and a rowing boat were washed away down the river at Wharfemeadows Park and have not been found.

Crowds of visitors flocked to the town to see the raging Wharfe break its banks and the weekly car boot sale was cancelled

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