SWIM England has warned that children could be missing out on vital lessons in learning how to swim because pools are closed during the current national Covid-19 pandemic lockdown.

The latest emergency measures mean indoor and outdoor swimming pools have closed and all organised sporting activity and swimming lessons have come to a halt.

With pools across north and west Wiltshire closed, the swimming body is leading the charge for them to be classed as essential services to help millions of people who rely on the water to get active.

It says that swimming regularly can help ease a variety of debilitating conditions and that increased pressure will be piled on the NHS and social care system if pools are not reopened as soon as coronavirus restrictions are eased.

Children learning how to swim are also not getting the practice they need to develop their skills and abilities, Swim England says.

Leading health experts have warned that the continued closures of swimming pools are ‘building up health problems for the future’.

They say it is ‘critical’ pools safely reopen at the earliest available opportunity to help more than 20 million people living in England with long-term conditions that cannot be cured but which require ongoing support from health and social care services.

Surgeons, physiotherapists and rehabilitation specialists have said the ‘specific and unique benefits of using the water’ to help treat these conditions is being lost – and aquatic activity offers a ‘safe and effective environment’ where people can manage their physical and mental health.

Swim England has shown how pools can help save the NHS and social care system more than £357 million a year as being in the water can help manage a range of conditions and reduce the amount of visits to GPs or hospitals for treatment.

Scarlett McNally is a consultant orthopaedic surgeon and lead author of Exercise: The Miracle Cure produced by the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges.

She supports Swim England’s plea for pools to be allowed to reopen as soon as the current national lockdown restrictions are eased and said: “Swimming is an excellent form of exercise, especially for people with problems with their feet or joints.

“People often don’t realise how much exercise they are getting because they don’t feel sweaty in water.

“There is overwhelming evidence that exercise is better for mental and physical health than many drugs.

“Regular exercise reduces the risk of dementia, heart problems and cancer and also helps treat common medical conditions.

“It is such a shame people can’t access swimming pools now.

“This is building up health problems for the future.”