Leisure bosses have come up with a novel approach to implement the Government's free swimming initiative for children – by banning kids from the pool.

Youngsters have been told they are not welcome at swimming pools in Dorset, Somerset and Wiltshire at dozens of sessions each week. Outraged parents have been told their children are barred because leisure centre bosses fear a massive rise in the number of children swimming for free will mean a drop in adults who do pay.

Earlier this week, the Western Daily Press reported on how some West councils had rejected cash for a much- vaunted Government scheme to help under-16s swim for free. But now we can reveal that even in the areas where councils took up the free swimming scheme, time- tables have been manipulated so they are effectively banned for most of the week.

One furious mum, whose two sons were turned away from their local pool for their regular Wednesday evening swim, said she initially thought it was a bad April Fool's joke.

Sarah Bennett said the bosses of the leisure centre company were cynically protecting their profits and going against the spirit of the free swim initiative.

The scale of the banning orders is immense. One leisure centre firm, DC Leisure, runs nine swimming pools in west Wiltshire, north Wiltshire and Exeter, as well as one in Dorset and others in Portishead and Clevedon, near Bristol.

As well as barring under 16s from all lane swimming sessions across the board – effectively ending the regular practice sessions for any youngster with Olympic aspirations – subtle and unannounced changes to the pools' timetables have seen many open public swim sessions replaced by 'adults only public swim sessions', and sessions specifically for children have either been axed or had their hours cut.

The effects of the changes mean the number of sessions where children can enjoy free swimming are cut to just a handful a week. Furious parents were left with tearful children after being turned away on the first evening.

In North Wiltshire, for example, there are a total of 44 timetabled sessions a week across four DC Leisure pools, where under 16s are now barred, with a similar story across the rest of the West.

Mum Sarah Bennett said she was furious at the ban. She brought her two sons George and Archie for their regular swim on Wednesday night at her local pool in Malmesbury, Wiltshire.

She said: "I thought at first it was an April Fool's joke. I simply couldn't believe it.

"I was outraged. I try to make fitness important to the boys, and I do circuit training while they are swimming. So there we were on the first day of the great free swimming plan and my sons were sitting doing nothing, watching me exercising."

DC Leisure, whose motto is 'more people, more active, more often', said the firm saw the free swimming initiative as "very positive".

Group swim director Mark Haslam said: "DCL see this central Government initiative as a very positive move to increase participation and meet their objective of two million people more active by 2012.

"There are a number of challenges in delivering free swimming. The most challenging is to ensure a balanced programme in busy pools, ensuring those users who do not benefit from the scheme are not disadvantaged."

But it appeared last night that DC Leisure had not informed the new unitary authority in Wiltshire – for which it runs 10 pools – of the timetable changes.

A spokesman for Wiltshire Council, who admitted DC Leisure had not informed them of the timetable changes, said: "We have spoken to DC Leisure and they have assured us they will amend the wording of their literature to ensure sessions are for all age groups.

"We will continue to work with them to make sure that everyone is able to swim in their pools."