Man's trunks deemed too long for swimming

BOURNEMOUTH, England, March 8 (UPI) -- A British man who took his stepdaughter to a public pool said he was barred from swimming because his swim trunks were too long.

Andy Toms, 45, said he took his stepdaughter, Annie, 11, and one of her friends to the pool at the Littledown leisure center in Bournemouth, England, and a lifeguard told him he couldn't swim because his trunks were too long, The Sun reported Thursday.

Toms said the lifeguard told him the trunks posed a hygiene risk.

"I've used that pool for years and worn my three-quarter length trunks before," he said. "They offered a pair from lost property but if the problem's hygiene it's not very hygienic to wear somebody's lost trunks."

A spokesman for the leisure center said officials are concerned about bacteria.

"These are not classed as swimwear and may have been used for other things like running in a field, which could mean bacteria going into the pool," the spokesman said.