Leominster children who are puzzled over why their swimming pool was closed down and boarded up now have the answer. It was Natty Nitch who did it.

On a hot summer night the troublesome witch swooped low over Sydonia on her broomstick and sealed the pool's windows and doors with her magic. She also put a fast-acting ageing spell on the building.

Cracks and poison ivy soon covered the walls alarming the King and Dizzy Wizzy the royal wizard and bringing the town's children on to the streets in protest. And that's just the start.

Leominster mum Karen Harris has 'lived' with Natty Nitch, Dizzy and other characters in the tale for eight years. The would-be author writes stories about them. One, with a theme of road safety, saw her shortlisted for an Academy of Children's Writers award this year.

Rescued

Karen, 37, the mother of two swimming-mad boys aged five and eight, turns her attention to the Leominster pool controversy in her latest yarn.

It's a funny tale with a serious message of the dangers of playing in or near the local rivers while they lack a swimming pool.

Karen says a recent Hereford Times front page report about a nine-year-old Leominster boy who was rescued from a weir by fire fighters underlines the need for greater awareness.

Karen, of Danesfield Drive, Leominster, joined the 'We Want Our Pool Campaign' and became its treasurer. She hit upon the idea of selling copies of 'The Sealed Swimming Pool' for WWOP.

The group is embarking on a campaign to raise a £250,000 public contribution towards the cost of the pool being planned by the county council.

Karen's story has appeared as a humble bit of home publishing - photocopied A4 pages clipped together at a corner. But several shops are selling it and it is proving popular and could sell out.

Now the storyteller hopes to find a publisher and produce an illustrated edition of the book for the pool campaign. If anyone can offer her help or advice Karen can be contacted on 01568 614467.