SWIMMERS have been left high and dry after grant to boost their club was rejected. The Deben Swimming Club, based at the public swimming pool in Woodbridge, is highly successful and has won a string of awards in the last two years.

SWIMMERS have been left high and dry after grant to boost their club was rejected.

The Deben Swimming Club, based at the public swimming pool in Woodbridge, is highly successful and has won a string of awards in the last two years.

The club is currently raising money for an electronic scoreboard and for sheds to store equipment and it asked Woodbridge town council to support a grant application for £6,000.

The town council refused this in May and has again rejected the bid after another discussion. Councillors decided there was not money to give anything to the club and they are not keen on supporting people who do not live in Woodbridge.

Cliff Cocker, deputy mayor, said: “Grant funding comes from the precept of the town of Woodbridge. It is money that is taken from the people of Woodbridge and it should kept for the people of Woodbridge.”

Nigel Barratt, chairman of the town's finance and staffing committee, said: “We were oversubscribed by three times and not everybody can get a grant from this council - we do not have the money and sometimes unpalatable decisions have to be made.”