Youngsters looking forward to a bank holiday dip at a riverside pool will be left high and dry.

The paddling pool at Wallingford Riverside Park is a popular family destination that attracts hundreds of bathers every year. The 40-year-old pool, which closes during the winter, traditionally opens for the first time on the May Day bank holiday.

But after weeks of unsettled weather, South Oxfordshire Leisure Limited (SOLL), which runs the site, has been forced to keep it under wraps.

Operations manager Peter Bradstock said the pool was in need of a coat of paint, but admitted that previous attempts to refurbish it had been unsuccessful. The first coat was washed off by torrential rain, and a second blistered after the repeated Easter downpours. He said: "We are disappointed, but the weather has been awful. It is something we haven't been able to pre-plan. We have had a full-time member of staff working on it and have done everything within our power, but have still been unable to open the pool."

He added: "People look forward to the pool opening. It is a very popular facility and we want people to be aware of it so that they don't get disappointed when they turn up."

SOLL insists that work is continuing on the park's main swimming pool, set to open to the public on the Spring bank holiday at the end of May.