A protester braved wintery weather conditions to swim a section of the River Don in opposition to the proposed closure of Stocksbridge Leisure Centre.

 

Peter Morton, dubbed 'the fruit loop in the wet suit', completed the stretch of river from Thurgoland to Deepcar on Saturday.

 

His aim was to highlight dangerous alternatives open to children, such as swimming in rivers, should the leisure centre shut as part of planned cuts by Sheffield City Council.

 

"Quite a lot of it was wading and stumbling, the swimming was the easiest," said Peter. "I quite enjoyed it actually - a strange kind of masochism."

 

Peter, of Hunshelf Park, Stocksbridge, was joined by neighbour Chris Holcroft for the swim, which took about an hour and 50 minutes to complete.

 

Crowds of people supported the pair along the route, in spite of cold weather, including snowfall.

 

Peter fears a generation of children may miss out on learning to swim, and, ultimately taking part in water-based sports, should the centre close.

 

He originally planned to stage an Olympic torch relay to parody the Olympic legacy but switched to the river stunt because he felt action needed to be taken before city councillors voted on whether to withdraw leisure centre funding.