THE environmental health team at Swindon Borough Council was warned there could be harmful bacteria in the pool at the Oasis - which turned out to be a microscopic parasite - more than three weeks before it was closed.

Now the woman who raised the alarm wants to know why they didn’t step in sooner.

Emma Killingback, 26, of Moredon, took her eight-year-old son Jake swimming at the Oasis on July 8.

In the days that followed he became very ill, suffering with diarrhoea, sickness and extreme tiredness.

“Jake was a poorly baby and he has a low immune system anyway so of course we were worried,” said Emma.

“We took him to GWH but they thought it was a bug and sent us home - we knew he wasn’t right so we took him to the John Radcliffe in Oxford the next day for a second opinion and they admitted him straight away.”

Jake remained in hospital for five weeks and even now has to get his intravenous line flushed each day.

Within five days of arriving at the John Radcliffe, the medical team told Emma that Jake had contracted cryptosporidiosis - also known as 'crypto' - which can be caused by swallowing the parasite cryptosporidium in swimming pool water.

“I phoned environmental health the same day,” she said.

“I told them he had got this illness and that he had been swimming at the Oasis – they told me that there were a couple of other cases in Swindon too.

“I trusted them to do something about it and I don’t understand why they didn’t.

“It’s made me angry, the reason I phoned is because I wanted to look after the other children – I watched my son get ill and I didn’t want any other parents to go through that.”

Emma reported her fears to the council on or around July 19, the pool was not closed by the operating company GLL until August 12.

Dr Ayo Oyinloye, consultant in public health for Swindon Borough Council, said: “Firstly, I would like to express my sympathies to anyone who has been affected by cryptosporidiosis in Swindon and to assure the public that everything is being done to address this issue.

“Working with Public Health England, we have been monitoring and thoroughly investigating all confirmed cases of the bug, which resulted in an outbreak control team being set up.

“As soon as a number of cases was identified with possible links to swimming at the Oasis pool, water testing was carried out and following the results which confirmed the presence of this bug, the pool was immediately closed as a precautionary measure and the water will be drained to address the situation.

“Leisure operators GLL are fully co-operating and committed to ensuring the water quality is safe for swimmers. People are encouraged to continue swimming as normal because it’s a healthy and enjoyable activity, particularly for children during the summer holidays."