Hull Lido - council reveal more about plans for the outdoor pool at Albert Avenue, including cafe, temperature, opening hours and water polo

The outdoor pool at Albert Avenue shut in the 1980s - and although the water is untreated and not suitable for swimming, it was never drained and was instead turned into a canoeing facility.

This foresight means it has been relatively easy for the council to commit to reconnecting it to the filtration system that services the adjacent indoor pool, which remained open after the lido's closure to swimmers.

The plans for the revitalised lido include a poolside cafe and seating areas, and crucially, the water will be heated - though not to the same temperatures as the indoor pool.

Site managers even hope to reintroduce water polo sessions, as the sport was played in the lido during its heyday.

Kingston Kayak Club have entered into partnership with the council and will continue to use the pool for training on selected evenings.

Visitors will be able to buy tickets for two-hour swims, and there will be a range of sessions aimed at different groups, including dawn opening for committed open water swimmers and evening summer swims for families.

The council's deputy leader Coun Daren Hale has pointed out that the vision for the lido fits in with the city's commitment to keeping leisure centres open in neighbourhoods across Hull rather than centralising amenities.

"There's a real appetite for outdoor swimming now, and we have a lot of youngsters in Hull who rarely visit the coast, even though it's only 12 miles away - it's very sad. This is the perfect chance to bring something new to Hull.

"A lot of these old lidos weren't heated, but we're going to connect Albert Avenue to the pipes for the indoor pool, meaning it will be cleaned and heated. There's been a big debate about this, as serious outdoor swimmers don't always want a warm pool, and so it will be a few degrees cooler than an indoor one. And we have the option of turning the heating off at certain times.

"Albert Avenue is in the middle of a working-class area, and we don't think it should always be the most exclusive parts of town that have the best facilities. It will be within walking distance of most of west Hull - an affordable facility on people's doorsteps.

"We've had a few people joke that it looks like St Tropez in the artists' impressions! We'll be open throughout the year and we expect it will be heaving in summer - we'll have to issue two-hour wristbands at busy times. In the early mornings we think it will attract serious swimmers, and then there will be family sessions too - it will cater for all. We want late night opening and hopefully water polo - the pool is square so it's ideal for that."

Although a firm opening date has not been given, Coun Hale hopes it will be within three years of the announcement - and points out that work cannot start until renovations at other leisure centres nearby have been completed, as councillors want to avoid a situation where more than one site is closed at the same time.

He also hopes the project will address a legacy of distrust of pools among Hull's old fishing community - who traditionally lived close to Albert Avenue.

"A lot of Hull children never learned to swim because the fishing families thought it was bad luck - it was a sort of tradition and swimming was not seen as important to them. We believe that all children living in cities built near water should be able to swim."