THE Seaside of the West Midlands' is how Droitwich was dubbed when the Lido opened to a rapturous Press on June 10, 1935.

It offered "the exhilaration of open-air bathing with bathroom comfort" and people flocked to the pool to reap the benefits.

Designed by the "leading landscape architect of the Edwardian era" Thomas H Mawson, the Lido capitalised on Droitwich's reserves of natural rock salt - the other principal industry of the town. Its "Mediterranean" character was remarked on in Press reports of the period.

Generations of young and old enjoyed its therapeutic effects and the chance to swim outdoors and sunbathe when the English weather was good.

"It was wonderful in the early days," said Droitwich resident Joe Gandy. "We used to go every week from school and then at weekends and everyone in the town would use it.

"But there were also visitors from all over the West Midlands and in the summer months it was packed."

Mr Gandy, who is now 73, said that the pool stayed open throughout the Second World War, with hundreds of people still enjoying the unique facility.

"We had never had anything like it before," he said. "It was great to have a swimming pool on your doorstep."

Droitwich Borough Council bought the pool in 1937 following fears that it would be sold to developers and may not remain available to the general public.

Then in 1975 the indoor pool was built next to the Lido, forming a large bathing complex. Swimmers would use the indoor pool during the winter months or for more "serious" swimming, while the Lido still attracted hundreds of people during the summer.

"It was superb day out," said Jenny Bulman, of Worcester Road. "I used to take my children there and they really enjoyed it. There was a fountain at one end and people went to splash about really rather go swimming.

"It was so much fun there and it is such a tragedy that it is to be lost."

Following a shake-up of local government in 1974, the ownership of the Lido passed to the newly formed Wychavon District Council.

Some say this was the start point of its decline. From that time the Lido has lurched from crisis to crisis and at one stage was closed down by Wychavon but reopened following pressure from local members.

Year on year visitor numbers fell as people jetted off to warmer climates or favoured indoor heated pools and it was only in exceptionally warm weather that the pool would harp back to its hey days of the 1940s and 50s.

In 1982 an emergency meeting was called by the then Mayor of Droitwich Eileen Hope following a recommendation to close the pool.

But it was saved for another year when councillors voted two-to-one to spend £34,000 refurbishing the Lido instead.

Since then it has faced several more threats of closure. But it's not only the over-zealous wishes of councillors to tear down the now derelict pool that littered the Lido's history with controversy.

Back in June 1986 there was outrage at young girls sunbathing topless around the pool edge and three years later vandals pulled the plug on the pool releasing gallons of water on one of the hottest weekends of the year.

The indoor pool also faced its fair share of criticism following a temporary closure in 1992 when a swimmer said he received an electric shock from a handrail.

More than £9,000 was spent repairing the pool only for it to be closed down when the new swimming pool was opened in Briar Mill.

And it went from bad to worse as each year the uncertainty over whether or not the complex would be opened again hung in the balance, until in 2000, the gates were locked and the Lido condemned to just a memory.

Despite attempts and offers by professional companies and voluntary campaigners SALT to save the pool the Lido was left to deteriorate with rising costs of repair.

On Tuesday, its future was finally sealed when councillors at Wychavon voted two-to-one to send in the bulldozers.

The question now hangs in the balance of just what Wychavon will replace the Lido with. What we can be sure of, however, is that the memories of the Lido will now be doomed to the history books and stories of fun and games and heritage that will be told by grandparents to generations to come. Droitwich Lido RIP.