Bromyard Mayor Bill Gibbard may feel as though he is swimming against the tide when it comes to getting a public pool in the town but he is far from giving up the fight.

On Friday three members of the swimming pool project working party, including Coun Gibbard, met up with the chief executive of Sports England, in London, to put forward their case in person.

Coun Gibbard said they told him they were not satisfied with the way their town was assessed in two feasibility studies which concluded that Bromyard does not need a swimming pool, despite a petition signed by 3,500 residents asking for one.

Without the backing of the Sports Council, which relies on the results of the feasibility study, a Lottery bid for the swimming pool cannot be submitted.

"We gave our reasons for why we don't feel satisfied with the standard model they use to gauge whether swimming pools can go into certain areas," said Coun Gibbard.

"Their big thing is the effects of another pool on the existing facilities and they are saying that Herefordshire is over run with pools but I'm saying that the whole of Bromyard is almost totally excluded in the county.

"Our primary school children have to travel to Tenbury Wells to take lessons which means they lose an hour's teaching time in travelling plus the parents have to contribute to the travel costs.

"It's as though Bromyard is discriminated against," said Coun Gibbard.

But he said he felt relatively happy with the way the meeting went.

"They were on the defensive as you'd expect but until we get a response from them it's difficult to know how it went," he said.

"We've requested that the model of assessment is changed and I'm hoping they come back with a positive response."

He added that a plot of land in the grounds of the Queen Elizabeth High School was still available for a new swimming pool.