Two rural Shropshire MPs have raised concerns over potential cuts to the swimming and leisure facilities in the county.

A debate on swimming and leisure facilities saw Helen Morgan, Liberal Democrat MP for North Shropshire, and Philip Dunne, Conservative MP for Ludlow, comment on the difficulties in providing leisure facilities across sparsely populated rural areas.

Ms Morgan stood up in the House of Commons to raise the matter, with her comments followed by an intervention from Mr Dunne.

She said: “Whitchurch swimming pool in my constituency closed in March 2020 and while spades are in the ground, thankfully, to reopen it in the coming years, the council announced last week that swimming pools and leisure centres would be at the top of its list for significant budget cuts in the coming year.

“I'm really concerned that, given the lack of public transport, that young people won't be able to learn to swim and that the wider community will lose access to a healthy lifestyle in the leisure centres that we've been offered.

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“I wonder if the minister would be able to meet with me to discuss how we ensure that people in a very stretched out rural area might be able to access those leisure centres going forward?”

Mr Dunne then spoke to ask whether the Minister would meet to discuss under-threat facilities in Shropshire.

The concern comes after Shropshire Council announced a further £63 million in cuts earlier this month.

Stuart Andrew, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Sport, Tourism, Heritage and Civil Society, responded to the questions raised by the two MP’s.

He said: “It sounds like I need to have a cross-Shropshire meeting to discuss facilities in the area.

"This is precisely why we have been so clear about the funding provided for swimming pools, and why we are going to do a facilities piece of work to understand where there are black spots in terms of providing more facilities and what facilities they should be to address the local need, and our determination to get more people active.”