Ronnie OSullivan won the title last year

The leisure centre is being used for for this year’s English Open.

He urged World Snooker to spend more money on tournament venues.

He told the BBC: “It’s such a bad venue, it demotivates you to want to play.

“This is about as bad as I’ve ever seen. It’s a bit of a hellhole.”

The venue has responded to his comments in a statement – read more here.

Mr O’Sullivan added: “I don’t know what this gaff is but I’ve just done an interview and all I can smell is urine.

“It’s just got no atmosphere in there. I’m practising and I’ve got wires all around the table. There’s no security, you’ve got people running at you left, right and centre.

“It’s not the fans’ fault. They [World Snooker] obviously haven’t got the budget to run it properly.

“I don’t know where their budget is but they’re cutting corners. I think they should invest in good venues. Players deserve better.”