Leisure centres across Swindon could see opening hours slashed after a string of cuts announced by the company that runs them.

Better - which runs Croft Sports Centre, Delta Tennis Centre, Dorcan Health and Recreation Complex, Haydon Centre and Gym, the Health Hydro and the Link Centre - has announced a reduction in opening hours as part of a 'temporary winter programme'

Better runs 268 leisure centres across the country, including the six in town, but says that it will have to make changes to 200 of them, in what its parent company GLL has called an 'extraordinary' programme. 

The changes will begin in December and run until Easter and will vary for each centre 

Speaking to the BBC, the company said that they are "designed to minimise disruption and to avoid changes for schools and swimming lessons," before adding: "In practice, some centres will open an hour later or close one hour earlier on some days."

It continued: "This will enable us to turn off lighting, plant and equipment at the time of maximum energy use when it is coldest and darkest. This is also when we are least busy."

Swimming pools are a typical fixture of most popular leisure centres, but they are a contributing factor to the rise in energy costs, which have risen to 25 per cent of total costs GLL says.

"Heating a public swimming pool complex now costs over £300,000, up from under £100,000."

Better has not yet confirmed which facilities will be seeing changes to their opening times, but this will be of concern to locals who rely on them for exercise and leisure, especially as Swim England has warned that more than 100 pools in the UK are under threat of closure. 

A government spokesperson said: "We know many leisure centres and swimming pools are contending with major increases in running costs, which is why we have introduced the Energy Bill Relief Scheme.

"It will mean they pay wholesale energy costs, well below half of the expected prices this winter."

Better was the leisure provider that was running the Oasis until the pandemic forced it to close and it then made the decision to permanently shut the popular venue in 2019, with the now-listed building reaching the two-year anniversary of laying dormant last week.