THE Save Oasis Swindon campaign paid a gold medal-winning Olympian to back their bid to reopen the leisure centre.

Earlier today, the campaign posted a video on their Facebook page of Rebecca Adlington OBE in which the former professional swimmer pushed for the facility to be saved.

It has since emerged that the campaign used fundraised money to pay the sports star to make the message.

Rebecca is on the website CelebVM.com, where people can order a customised message from famous faces for £30 a time.

She said: "I'm extremely sorry to hear about Swindon's famous Oasis leisure centre being permanently closed due to the impact of Covid.

"Swimming is a life skill... and it is so important for our mental and physical health. I know so many people who are missing the pool right now.

"Fingers crossed for you guys because I would love to see a story about it being saved rather than shut down. Best of luck."

A spokesman for the Save Oasis Swindon campaign told the Adver: "We were criticised by one councillor over this but I dont think it matters, she said yes to doing it so I don't see the problem.

"We plan to get more videos from other celebrities without paying for them."