Teresa Coupland says she was horrified at the state of the changing rooms at the Castle Sports Swimming Pool when she went with her daughter Kirsty Caley (27) and granddaughters Aliyah (5) and Eve (six months).

She said there were bubbles of mould filled with water on the ceiling and the floors were "filthy".

She also says that the baby pool they wanted to use was closed on January 19 because there was no lifeguard.

Teresa, of Battlefields Lane, Holbeach, said the family had to use the full-size pool which had no heating.

She added: "The changing rooms were disgusting. There was mould and it was filthy. You go from Holbeach to Spalding to take the children and those facilities are not up to standard."

She raised her concerns with a lifeguard at the pool.

Phil Perry, the council's leisure facilities manager, said: "Leisure Connection manages the day-to-day operation of the Castle Sports Complex on behalf of South Holland District Council and should the customer wish to lodge a complaint at the Castle Sports Complex, it will be looked into as a matter of priority.

"The customer could contact the council and I will pass them on to Leisure Connection for action."

A Leisure Connection spokesman said: "The decision to close the learner pool was taken due to the bather load in the main pool being higher than expected.

"The main pool is always a couple of degrees cooler due to swimmers swimming at an increased speed, rather than playing in the learner pool, where adults and children move at a slower pace.

"The lifeguards and duty manager carried out a thorough clean of the female changing rooms before the evening session and spot checks during the evening.

"The design of the leisure centre and its flat roof means that it is susceptible to mould and has nothing to do with cleaning standards, which Leisure Connection takes very seriously and upholds at all times.

"Leisure Connection is working with South Holland Council to look at additional roof insulation and an additional extractor fan. In the long term we are looking at replacing the ceiling."

SPALDING'S Castle Sports Complex and swimming pool complex were recently given a score of 75 per cent by QUEST (up five per cent) for facility operations, staffing, customer service, and service development.