Swimmers evacuate town leisure centre
SWIMMERS were evacuated on Monday afternoon from Hinckley Leisure Centre’s main pool as firemen were called to empty water from the diving pool, after a leak was found.
It is thought that contractors, who are building a water chute, damaged a pipe while drilling holes to take steel tubes which will support the slide.
This caused water to escape and firemen had to quickly empty the pool to stop a possible flood and for damage to be assessed.
They were alerted after checks showed the water level in the pool had fallen eight inches in two to three hours and puddles were found in the plant room.
“Swimmers were evacuated because of exhaust fumes given off by mobile pumps which were being used the Fire Brigade,” explained Mr Mike Evans, Director of Public Services. He added: “At no time was any swimmer in any danger.”
Sub Officer John Mays was in charge of Hinckley firemen who used two portable pumps to pump 120,000 gallons of water out of the pool a t a rate of 360 gallons a minute each.
The installation of the water chute is included in a £300,000 revamp of the council-run centre.
Despite Monday’s hiccup, centre manager Liam Griffin said he still hopes the water chute will be open to the public by May.
As well as the 60-metre water chute there is to be a moveable floor, which can be adjusted to any height so that people using the slide can land in shallow water.
Elsewhere, The Hinckley Times homes and leisure show was a great success.
Over 6,000 people packed into the Leisure Centre over the weekend to make Hinckley’s first Home and Leisure Show organised by The Hinckley Times a major success.
And with 40 exhibition stands, demonstrations, a fashion show and the judging of the Hinckley Carnival Princess Competition they were not disappointed.
All the exhibitors have reported large sales resulting from the show and plans for next year’s show are already underway.
“Exhibitors made a very impressive job of their stands and some organised competitions,” said Hinckley Times advertising manager David Goodman.
“It provided an enormous shop window for the trades of the town and it really was a family thing.”
The show got underway on Saturday morning with the Earl Shilton and District Youth Band marching through the town and leading the way to the Leisure Centre.
Despite the bad weather there was a queue of people waiting to get into the show when the doors were opened and an improvement in the weather on Sunday meant that even more people turned out.
One of the major attractions was the fashion show which was held on both days and included the latest ranges from Familytique, Town and Country Fashions, Options Shoes, The Wool Shop, Anitas, Highland Gathering, Lace and Select. The fashion show featured professional models and was compared by John Gibbon.
Other demonstrations were put on over the weekend by Slaney’s of Hinckley (microwaves), Shirley Price Aromatherapy, Sharp Centre (microwaves), Floral Fayre and Ian Hughes Cycles.
Leicester Sound was at the show throughout the two days and broadcast live from the Leisure Centre on Saturday.
Another feature of the show was the choosing of this year’s Hinckley Carnival Princess. Judges chose 15-year-old Donna Wilson of Hinckley, whose mother Fay was Hinckley Carnival Queen in 1967.
Donna has acted in thee professional theatre productions and has also appeared in many productions at the Concordia Theatre.
The six maids were Sally-Ann Fuller (6) of Hinckley; Rachel Grimley (6) of Hinckley; Emma Moore (6) of Barwell; Louise Parratt (9) of Burbage; Joanne Dottridge (15) of Burbage and Adele Vickers (15) of Hinckley.
The Hinckley Times stand attracted many people and 200 new members jointed the Press Gang Children’s Club, with 300 children entering the competition to win a teddy bear. The lucky winner was five-year-old Rachel Field of Hinckley.
Staff at The Hinckley Times are now organising a Motor Show for October.