A THIRD of leisure centres across Glasgow have been affected by closures leaving kids without facilities for the school break.

A THIRD of leisure centres across Glasgow have been affected by closures leaving kids without facilities for the school break.

Six of the city's 18 sports and recreation centres have been forced to shut sections or make alternative arrangements for youngsters.

Three of the 10 public swimming pools are shut or partly shut with creches, steam rooms and spa pools also out of action.

Parents and swimmers today blasted the closures which include:

• The swimming pool at Scotstoun closed indefinitely because of structural problems.

• Pollok Pool due to reopen for the holidays but still shut.

• The kids' pool at Easterhouse's The Bridge closed for retiling in December and still shut.

Both Drumchapel Pool and Scotstoun Leisure Centre have also stopped their creche facilities, claiming customers failed to use them.

The track and field area at Scotstoun is also closed off as part of an ongoing £1.3million upgrade.

And Donald Dewar Leisure Centre in Drumchapel, which offers a selection of holiday activities for schoolkids, doesn't have a sports coach to take the classes.

Bosses at the centre have been forced to bus children to Blairdardie Sports Pavilion to take part in their Gladiators programme instead.

North Woodside Leisure Centre has also had to close its spa pool and sauna for repairs.

Gorbals and Bellahouston Leisure Centres both have flumes at their swimming pools but the rides don't open until the afternoon - and even then only at certain times.

Kids can't play on the flumes until noon. Once open, the flumes are only in use on the hour for thirty minutes.

Neither centre has signs up to explain the restricted opening times with many families left to think the flumes are simply shut.

Staff are unable to explain why the flumes are not open constantly.

Matthew Bull is a school sports coach and uses Scotstoun Pool, which opened 15 years ago, daily. He was shocked to learn the pool closed at the end of last week, as revealed in Saturday's Evening Times.

Experts have been drafted in to look at suspected structural problems with a further announcement on how long it will be out of bounds expected next week.

Matthew said: "It's a real shambles. There's no excuse for the pool being the way it is, particularly at the start of the holidays."

Mum Kayleigh Cameron, from Partick, takes exercise classes at Scotstoun several times a week.

The closure of the creche has left her struggling to find arrangements for her daughter Katy, 20 months.

The 22-year-old said: "I was taking classes here but I don't know what I'll do with Katy now the creche has stopped."

Over at Easterhouse's The Bridge the teaching pool closed last December for essential tile replacement - even though the centre had only been open for 18 months. The adult pool is still open.

SNP councillor John Mason slammed the closures, saying families had been "let down" by Culture and Sport Glasgow.

"The Bridge has only just opened. It seems ridiculous for this to happen during the holidays.

"I think it's a big let down to families in the area."

Pollok Leisure Centre closed in February last year for a major renovation.

The refurbishment was due to be completed for the start of the holidays but work was delayed when engineers discovered a major fault in the roof.

A spokesman for Glasgow City Council, which still runs the Pollok facility, said: "A tile cleaning operation is soon to be undertaken to ensure the pool is in absolutely the best possible condition when it does reopen."

A spokesman for Culture and Sport Glasgow, which runs the other centres, said the closures were "essential".

Sports coach Matthew Bull	Stacey Thomson, right, with her daughters Lauren, Jennifer and Olivia, have been left disappointed by the Scotstoun closure	Gary Connell and son Craig stopped going to The Bridge because it was so often shut	Michelle Fitzpatrick would love to know why The Bridge has been dogged by problems	The closure of Scotstoun creche has left mum Kayleigh without care for Katy

He said: "The learner pool at The Bridge has been closed since December 2007 for essential tile works. The main pool is open. We are hopeful the work will be completed by September.

"Creche facilities continue to operate at Bellahouston and Tollcross Leisure Centres, however the facility at Drumchapel Creche has always closed over Christmas, Bank and summer holidays."

The latest closures come after the Gorbals Leisure Centre was shut for six months after it was discovered tiles lining the pool were not waterproof. It reopened in June 2006.

Pictures: Kirk O'Rourke