A swimming club in Kings Langley is fighting to save its premises as it faces demolition when the school grounds it is situated on is entirely redeveloped.

Kings Langley Swimming Club (KLSC) is currently based on the grounds of Kings Langley Secondary School however the swimming pool facilities are set to be demolished when the school in Love Lane is rebuilt.

Members, coaches and parents from the swimming club formed in 1972 have now teamed up in a bid to keep "their friendly club in the village."

Lesley Foster, who has been a KLSC coach since 2007 said club members were gutted when they found out the news.

She said: "We have informed the children and they are absolutely gutted.

"Some of the older children have asked if there is anything they can do to help. But at the moment, there seems like there is little chance.

"It is such a shame and it is hard to understand why they would demolish a swimming pool that does its job."

For over thirty years the swimming pool has been providing lessons every Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday evenings to children in the village between the ages of 7 and 19 years.

Organised by husband and wife Ray and Carol Preston, the club has 105 members and accommodates approximately 1,000 children in the area every week.

Ms Foster said: "Some of our members started here to learn to swim from the age of five and are still here today at the age of 19.

"Others have gone off to university and then returned to the village and come back to see us for lessons - we are very much a family.

"We would ideally like to stay in Kings Langley- we wouldn’t be the Kings Langley Swimming Club if we didn’t."

Committee members are actively fighting to save the club and are looking at alternative places or running the premises independently. They will also meet with MP Mike Penning to discuss the clubs future.

However funding and finding another location is proving difficult for the club.

Jane Harding has three daughters that attend the swimming club and said she worries her daughters, Becky, 9, Ellen, 11 and Kerry, 13 will lose their swimming careers.

An ex-swimmer herself, Mrs Harding said it is very important to the carry on the Olympic legacy and keep children active.

She said: "This is such a friendly, informal and family club and the kids don’t see swimming as a chore.

"It gives children swimming enjoyment and I have never come across a friendlier swimming club than here.

"If we were to lose our little pool my daughters would definitely stop swimming because they wouldn’t want to go anywhere else. It’s such a shame because I don’t want them to finish their swimming careers."

Mrs Harding, who lives in Bovingdon, also uses the pool facilities to volunteer as a swimming teacher for Bovingdon Primary Academy.

She said: "If we were to lose the pool we would lose lots of village members and where would all our schools learn to swim?"

Kings Langley Secondary School will be rebuilt in approximately two to three years and until then Ms Foster said committee members will do their best to petition against the closure or find an alternative location.

To sign the petition visit: http://www.change.org/en-GB/petitions/save-kings-langley-school-swimming-pool