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Tooting Bec Lido set to close for nine months for £3m works

News imageAndrea Baldo/Getty Images Image of rows of flags and competitors swimming in unusual headgear during the championshipsAndrea Baldo/Getty Images
The lido also hosts the National Cold Water Swimming Championships, which take place every two years.

A south-west London lido is to close for nine months while a £3m renovation takes place.

Tooting Bec Lido, which is the biggest open-air freshwater pool in the UK, is set to shut on 20 November.

It first opened in 1906 and Wandsworth Borough Council hopes the project will secure the existing 90m (295ft) lido for the next half a century.

Thousands of people use the site year-round, with more than 265,000 visits made this summer.

The council said the investment would fund the replacement of the existing pumphouse, which controls the pool's water supply, and the construction of a new electrical sub-station to power the pumps and a new UV water purification system.

News imageView Pictures/Getty Images A person swims in the lido on a summer's dayView Pictures/Getty Images
The council hopes the project will secure the 90m (295ft) lido for the next half a century
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