The council's latest Executive Member for leisure has been blasted by his opposite Labour number after simply accepting the Government cut to free swimming without a fight.

Coun. Sonja Crisp says the Executive Member, Coun. Nigel Ayre, has let down both young and elderly in York, after the ConDem coalition Government announced an end to free swimming for the under 16s and over 60s.

She said:

"What Coun. Ayre should have done is argue the case with Ministers that the free swimming scheme should continue. It has been a real success and benefited a great many people in the city, but unfortunately all Coun. Ayre is concerned with is putting party first, and local people second.

"He should have taken this issue all the more seriously given York's woeful lack of swimming provision. The council needs all the people going swimming at council pools as it can possibly get, just to make them viable".

Coun. Crisp concluded saying that there is now an problem with the Liberal Democrats standing up for York and fighting for the city when any decision taken by the coalition that leaves the city worse off has been accepted by the council's political leadership.