"My baby could have eaten a cockroach" - Mum's fury at finding cockroaches in Wimbledon Leisure Centre

Nicole Hewitson, 29, photographed the dead and living insects that she spotted in the swimming pool viewing gallery at Wimbledon Leisure Centre during a morning session.

But she said staff claimed to have cleaned the area that morning, and in a statement the leisure centre insisted the insects’ presence did not prove there was an infestation.

Wimbledon Leisure Centre in Latimer Road

Full-time mum Miss Hewitson, who spotted the chitinous creepy-crawlies on Wednesday, April 30, said she noticed them when watching her seven-year-old daughter Kara play with her 11-month-old son Caiden.

She said: “I turned around and saw a cockroach running towards me. I walked around to take a look and I saw dead cockroaches all around where the kids were playing.

“My little son was playing there the day before, crawling along the floor, and I saw a dead cockroach right where we had been sitting. He could have picked one up, or even eaten it.

“I was shaking with anger. Knowing my son was there, crawling, putting his hands on the floor… I didn’t notice him touch anything, but I can’t know for sure.

"I was fuming. I was appalled by it. My baby could have eaten a cockroach.”

Miss Hewitson, who said her original complaint to staff was not taken seriously, has since been offered an apology and a refund by the leisure centre.

She had travelled from the Alton estate, in Roehampton to the leisure centre, for her daughter’s swimming lessons because she thought Wimbledon was supposed to be “a nice area”.

Wimbledon Better Leisure Centre manager, Tom Casson, said: “We are sorry this customer’s experience fell below the standard we want for all our visitors.

“We value customer feedback and have already been in contact to offer an apology and full refund.

“The centre does not have an infestation of cockroaches – this isolated incident has been dealt with and we’ve ensured inconvenience to centre users is minimised.”