FREE swimming campaigner Norah Riley-Smith has presented a 1,000-strong petition to Weymouth and Portland Borough Council.

In the week that the free swimming scheme for pensioners and children was launched by councils across the county, Age Concern trustee and volunteer Mrs Riley-Smith called on the council to reconsider its decision not to take part in the programme.

She submitted the signatures gathered during Age Concern and the Dorset Echo’s Swim for Free campaign to the council’s Conservative leader Mike Goodman, who is also chairman of the management committee that rejected the scheme last year.

Mrs Riley-Smith expects at least another 190 signatures.

Coun Goodman said he had heard nothing that would change his mind on the original decision.

However, he said he would bring the issue back before the council’s management committee on Tuesday.

Mrs Riley-Smith said there were clear health and social benefits to be gained by allowing over-60s and under-16s to swim for free and pointed out that around 80 per cent of councils in England had signed up to free swimming for pensioners.

She added: “Myself and many other pensioners have been a generation of people who are proud of our town.

“Over the years we have also supported it and contributed a tremendous amount of revenue.

“Now we are pensioners it appears that the free swimming, which is of paramount importance for our health and socialisation, is being withheld.”

Coun Goodman said that the council cared passionately about promoting sport and physical activity and spend around £1million a year promoting it.

However, he said the potential loss of trade for Osprey Leisure Centre on Portland was his primary concern because it does not qualify for the scheme as it is not council-owned.

He said: “It is not at this stage a question of money.

“It is making sure that, in providing the service, we don’t damage another that is equally important.

“We have spent hundreds of thousands of pounds since the naval base closed at Osprey Quay in maintaining the Osprey Leisure Centre for public use.

“Now we have a successful community trust and if we take away their customers the centre will not be able to make even the money it is making now.”

Coun Goodman said the council would ‘be stupid’ not to take into account the views of the hundreds of people who had signed the petition, but said his reasons for rejecting the scheme remained.

He said he had encountered ‘no evidence’ to indicate there would be a dramatic increase in swimming if the scheme was backed.

Councils have until the end of April to join the scheme but Coun Goodman said the council had not been made aware of such a deadline by the Department of Culture, Media and Sport.