Parents fear a 150-year-old swimming club could fold because of the “bullying” attitude of pool bosses.

Huddersfield Amateur Swimming Club has helped thousands of children learn to swim.

But now angry parents fear the club is about to go under after pressure from Kirklees Active Leisure (KAL).

The club meets at KAL’s pool at the John Smith’s Stadium in Huddersfield on Monday nights.

The club has been forced to reduce its three-hour sessions to two hours while hire charges have been increased from £120 to £300.

KAL is also insisting the club’s volunteer swimming teachers follow a new learning regime called the Aquatics Pathway.

Mum Emma Whitefoot, whose six-year-old son Toby Massey attends swimming lessons, said the club had written to parents warning them about the changes.

She said the club had been based at the stadium pool since it opened but now believed KAL wanted them out.

“This seems like bullying to me and it seems KAL want the pool back because Monday nights are prime time for them,” said Emma.

“The committee which runs the club has been put under a lot of pressure and we are not sure how long the club can keep going.”

Emma said she understood the club was now on a month-to-month contract and had been offered other swim times or other venues.

Emma, of Moldgreen, said she believed the swimming lessons offered by the club were better than those with KAL instructors.

“At the club we pay a £15 annual subscription and £3 a lesson. You only pay when you attend,” she said.

“With KAL you have to block-book so if you can’t go you lose out.

“With the swimming club the classes are small – maybe one teacher to three children. That means you almost get one-to-one tuition. You wouldn’t get that with KAL.”

Emma said she could not understand how KAL could dictate what swimming regimes were followed.

“Surely if the club is hiring the pool they can operate how they want to operate?”

Club officials failed to respond to the Examiner’s requests for a comment and, it is understood, one long-standing official has quit due to the stress of the situation.

Another parent, Lynda Lockwood, 43, also of Moldgreen, said the club could help some youngsters that KAL could not.

Her son Samuel, 10, has dyspraxia, a condition which affects movement and co-ordination.

He was taught to swim by the patience of teachers and has just completed his one-mile badge.

Lynda added: “The swimming club tailors its teaching to the individual child, whether it takes three months or two years.

“KAL is cutting its nose off to spite its face. It just wants to make money.”

A KAL spokesman said that as Monday evening was a peak time, the club was asked to move to allow as many swimmers as possible to use the pool.

The club still has a three-hour slot on Mondays but requested only a section of the pool for the final hour due to low numbers which in turn reduced costs.

KAL offered Monday nights at Almondbury Swimming Pool or a Sunday night slot at the stadium but made it clear if the swim club wanted to remain they would have to pay the “standard hire rate” for exclusive use.

KAL was keen to work with the club to raise standards and achieve the Amateur Swimming Association’s ‘Swim 21’ quality accreditation.

Two of the main club teachers also worked for KAL, said the spokesman.

KAL was also working with all clubs to develop an Aquatics Pathway for Kirklees, with clear development routes for swimmers from beginner level through to performance squads, again to raise standards.