A swimming pool operator in Staffordshire has demanded customers shower before they go for a swim, due to a national shortage of cleaning chemicals.

Lex Leisure – which operates three leisure centres in the Staffordshire Moorlands – shared an update on its Facebook pages on Monday to make the request.

The company manages more than 80 facilities on behalf of 31 local authorities across England and Wales.

The notice said: "It is mandatory for all customers to shower before swimming.

"With chemical levels in the UK currently under increasing pressure, we ask all customers to shower before using the pool."

Lex Leisure manages the pools in Cheadle, Biddulph and Leek on behalf of Staffordshire Moorlands District Council.

Staffordshire Moorlands District Council has been approached for comment.

Meanwhile, operators at other sites say they are monitoring the situation but have no urgent concerns at the moment.

It's understood there is a nationwide shortage of chlorine.

A spokesperson for East Staffordshire Borough Council commented: "The council's leisure facilities are operated by our partner Everyone Active.

"The council continues to liaise with Everyone Active who as a company are proactively managing the situation regarding stock levels.

"The leisure facilities currently have plenty of supplies in stock and Everyone Active have contingency measures in place should they become necessary, such as alternative suppliers or stock transfers between their various sites."

Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council, which operates the Jubilee 2 site in Newcastle town centre, says it makes its own chlorine liquid.

A spokesperson for the authority said: "We are aware of the issues but we actually use salt to produce our own chlorine liquid.

"If we were unable to use salt, for whatever reason, we have a back-up alternative with chlorine tablets.

"But, we are monitoring the situation."

Everybody Health and Leisure operates a number of swimming pools just across the border in Cheshire East (these include pools in Alsager, Congleton, Macclesfield and Sandbach).

A spokesperson for the group said: "We were fortunate to see this shortage coming.

"While this issue has only been widely reported in recent weeks, the reality is this has been an ongoing pressure for several months now.

"We have been actively working with a number of suppliers to secure what stocks we can and we currently have a healthy reserve and additional orders on their way.

"Some other local authorities haven't been as fortunate and have seen the introduction of reduced pool programmes. This is not the case in Cheshire East."

They added: "While we do not anticipate any disruption to our current pool programmes, we have been working on a contingency plan to ensure greater resilience."

Freedom Leisure – which operates facilities in Stafford borough – says it has not been affected by the shortage.