A secondary school in Powys has suddenly announced it will be closing its community sports and leisure facilities to residents in the town.

People in Crickhowell have been left surprised by the announcement from Crickhowell High School, which will no longer operate any of its facilities for community use from the end of this month.

“I am deeply shocked and angry at this sudden announcement. If you are a user of the community sports centre facilities,” said County Councillor, Claire Hall.

“Please email me ASAP with your contact details so I can help like-minded individuals to come together to safeguard our community's access to these essential facilities going forward. I particularly want to hear from local sports clubs, both junior and adult.”

The school took on the running of the facilities a decade ago and received widespread support for ensuring the town continued to have access to local community sports facilities.

But “financial pressures and the current economic climate” has resulted in the school saying it can no longer support the provision.

The school’s scaling back of its involvement in community life may not end with community sports facilities either. It also manages Crickhowell Town Library and in an open letter, Crickhowell High said it faced “similar financial challenges” with that asset too.

But it did say that discussions are ongoing to ensure alternative models within the community can be considered.

A spokesperson for the school said they were thankful for the support given to them by the community and that the decision had not been easy.

“This has been an extremely difficult decision for us as a school, and one we have not taken lightly,” they said.

“However, we cannot take a hugely unsustainable model into the next financial year and we continue to work constructively with partners and the community as discussions take place about what future provision may look like.”