TENS of thousands of people have flocked to Gourock's world famous outdoor pool so far this summer on a high tide of scorching weather and high-profile TV coverage.

A certain Britpop band's latest album cover featuring the lovely lido has helped in the clamour of swimmers - from as far away as New Zealand - eager for a dip. 

Delighted pool bosses have put the surging success down to a 'perfect storm' of glorious sunshine and global publicity triggered by Blur's use of an iconic image of the baths.

Appearances on the BBC and ITV have also boosted the pool's profile as staff - now more than a month ahead of income targets - gear up to welcome thousands more visitors. 

Even recent rain hasn’t been enough to put off the pool’s keenest customers, with swimmers still splashing about when the Tele visited earlier this week to talk to pool manager Marc McFarlane.

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Marc said: “Over the past six or seven weeks we've seen an unprecedented increase in usage here in Gourock, so much so that we’re actually five weeks ahead of our income targets and stats.

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"We’re just hoping the weather comes back!

“We’re probably averaging well over a thousand people per day and we’re also seeing an increase in customers coming in from outwith Inverclyde and Scotland.

“There have been a lot of English people coming up, and during their mid term break we saw a huge increase in their number based on the exposure we’ve had from TV.

“I think the furthest we’ve seen is people coming from the likes of America and New Zealand.

“It’s a tourist stop destination for a lot of folk, whether they’re travelling around Scotland or visiting the area."

After a successful start to the new swimming season, pool bosses were stunned when they found out Blur had chosen an image of the bright blue lido, taken by photographer Martin Parr, as the cover picture for their new album ‘The Ballad of Darren’.

The album cover reveal was followed by a series of appearances on TV channels such as the BBC and ITV, with Port Glasgow-born presenter Jean Johansson presenting a segment of daytime television programme This Morning from the pool.

Marc says the media coverage coupled with a heatwave created the perfect circumstances for the pool’s popularity to take off.

He told the Tele: “It’s been a perfect storm – the combination of the good weather and the Blur Album cover, which has also been bolstered by the coverage we’ve got through This Morning filming live here as well.

“We started with BBC, then it was STV and then a wide range of media outlets, we’ve not seen that level of media coverage in all the time Gourock Pool has been running probably.

“The team here have done tremendously well, although there are quite a few t-shirt sun tans.

“They’ve thoroughly and enjoyed it as well, where else can you go to work for the day and stand looking out at that fantastic view? It’s like being abroad on holiday sometimes.

“The unique experience that Gourock offers is what brings people here.

“You can’t go anywhere else to swim outdoors in 29-degree saltwater with panoramic views and fantastic friendly staff.

“And now it’s world famous as well – it ticks all the boxes.”

The staff are hoping the warm weather returns in July and brings plenty more new faces down to the pool.

As well as keeping the leisure facility open during the day, they are also running starlit swim sessions every Wednesday.