More than four in five Britons (84 per cent) live within two miles of a public or privately owned swimming pool with some public access.

The figure comes from the latest UK Swimming Industry Report by The Leisure Database Company, which shows that there are now 3,296 swimming sites containing 4,670 separate swimming pools in the UK.

The number of swimming sites has remain largely static (there was a decrease of 0.5 per cent between 2012 and 2013), but future investment will be needed in the UK's swimming pool estate, as 44 per cent of the public swimming pool stock has been built before 1980.

For more details and to order the full report, see The Leisure Database website by clicking here.