THE swimming pool at Kingfisher Leisure Centre in Sudbury will be temporarily closed for a week while damage to a roof panel is investigated and repaired.

A glass panel directly above the pool appears to have broken overnight, leaving no option but to close the pool while it is checked and repaired. The cause of the damage is not known at this stage.

Work to repair the panel will require the pool to be drained and scaffolding erected. This means the pool and health suite will have to be closed until Saturday 31 August at the earliest.

All other facilities at Kingfisher, including the gym, remain open as usual.

The pool is owned by Babergh District Council and operated by not-for-profit social enterprise Abbeycroft.

Cllr Deborah Saw, Babergh council leader, said: "We are sorry for any inconvenience the closure will cause over the next week, but people's safety is of paramount importance. We will be working with our partners at Abbeycroft to resolve the issue as quickly as we can."

 Warren Smyth, chief executive of Abbeycroft, added: "We know how frustrating this will be for customers during the summer holidays, and we are sorry for any disruption caused. But we must ensure people's safety.

"We will be contacting customers directly who have bookings with us and will update our website and social channels."

 If people have bookings affected by the closure, they can also call the contact centre on 01284 757473 to discuss options, including moving them to another site.