ONE hundred children have had their swimming lessons cancelled after the company suddenly lost its contract.

Children attending lessons with Baby Swim UK at Oaklands Community Pool, run by Dan Lally, in Southampton will no longer be able to attend.

Baby Swim UK, owned by Erin Farmer, had a contract with the charity run pool but it was suddenly cancelled giving Erin 14 days notice to find another pool.

Erin, who started the business from scratch, has been running swimming lessons at the pool for two and a half years.

She sees more than 100 children every week from months-old babies to primary age children.

Oaklands Community Pool management told Erin on October 10 that they will be cancelling her contract with the pool but gave no "official reason" and she must be out by October 24.

Erin, who is 12 weeks pregnant, said: "I am frantically looking for another pool, the local community benefit from the lessons and customers are using the service.

"They're all so upset and distraught.

"I am heartbroken, I am proud of what I have built up here."

A petition has now been started to ask Oaklands Community Pool to retract the cancelled contact and already has more than 520 signatures from parents, families and local residents.

Jessica Charge, from Bitterne, has been taking her son three-year-old across the city for lessons with Erin for over a year.

She said: "I am gutted and devastated.

"I live in Bitterne but the travelling is totally worth it, Erin is brilliant.

"My son is super confident in the water, he loved it and I am really sad and distressed it's gone."

Jessica, along with many other parents, emailed the management team at the asking them to reverse the decision but they did not respond.

Hayley Thomas takes her five-year-old son to daytime lessons Erin provides as part of a Home Education group.

She said: "It's shocking how this has unfolded and it will be difficult.

"It feels like it was a 'we can so we are' attitude from the management.

"It's a charity run community pool and they are putting a local business at risk, it's shocking."

Erin is still looking for a pool to use so she can carry on her lessons in Southampton.

Dan Lally, from Oaklands Community Pool said: "I can confirm that [we] has served notice to Baby Swim UK entered into a hire agreement with Oaklands Community Pool and Mrs Farmer signed the agreement thus entering into the terms and conditions contained within the agreement.

"We had therefore exercised our right to cancel the contract with UK Baby Swim LTD as per the hire contract we mutually agreed."

Anyone who has a pool the group can use can email babyswimuk@gmail.com.