DROITWICH residents could soon be donning their overalls and grabbing a paintbrush in an attempt to have the town's Lido opened next year.

Dozens of people have offered to give up their spare time to clean, paint and spruce up the facility before summer 2004.

Sheila Neary, a member of campaign group SALT (Save A Lido Today), believes enough people have volunteered to be able to do the job.

"We have been inundated with calls from members of the public who would like to help out," she said.

"They are more than willing to wash furniture, scrub floors and walls and paint.

"Initially, this is all the Lido will need. We have it in black and white from Wychavon District Council that there is nothing wrong with the system itself, it is not dangerous.

"So as far as the residents of Droitwich are concerned there is no reason why the Lido should not be opened by summer 2004."

Wychavon District Council and Wychavon Leisure have been in exclusive talks since the withdrawal of Thermae Ltd at the start of last month.

It is proposed that the council should pay for the work on the facility and Wychavon Leisure should run it.

It is not yet clear what form the revamp will take, but Wychavon Leisure's original proposals were based on the phased reopening of the Lido and the addition of a number of new leisure facilities.

Wychavon's community partnership manager Tim Deakin confirmed the council was considering opening the pool for next year.