Youngsters paddle in a dry pool

Hot youngsters have to make do with a dry paddling pool

People in a Derbyshire town say they are getting hot and bothered - because a paddling pool in a local park has not been filled.

Children going to Rutland Recreation Ground in Ilkeston have to make do with playing in an empty pool.

Residents say that, in a week of scorching temperatures, it has left them with nowhere to cool off.

One mother said: "We said 'we'll go to Ilkeston because they've always got water in the paddling pool there.'

"We were so disappointed when we discovered they've got absolutely nothing in there on the hottest day of the year."

But Erewash Borough Council, which is responsible for the upkeep of the pool, says it is empty because - built in the 1960s - it does not meet health and safety standards anymore.

The future of the pool is now being decided.