As the county baked in scorching temperatures yesterday, schoolchildren were sent home, roads had to be gritted to stop them melting - and animals at a wildlife park were given fruity ice cubes and a good hosing down.

The mercury rose as high as 35C on the hottest day of the year, affecting daily life for everyone in Oxfordshire.

School was out for some pupils in the county yesterday as staff sent them home because their classrooms were too hot. At Wantage Primary School ,the temperature hit 100F (38C) and so the 460 pupils were told to stay home.

Peers Technology College in Littlemore, Oxford, sent pupils in years seven and eight home on Tuesday, with pupils in years nine and 10 attending lessons in the coolest classrooms. The same arrangement continued yesterday.

At Berinsfield Primary School, near Wallingford, 260 pupils were sent home yesterday afternoon, while pupils at Clanfield Primary School, in west Oxfordshire, also returned home together with pupils from nearby Bampton Primary School.

At Carswell Primary School in Bostock Road, Abingdon, headteacher Sue Gore employed a novel way of keeping the sun off 270 pupils - the school spent £5,000 on a special Australian sail to provide shade for pupils in the playground.

Mrs Gore said: "The sail is made of a specially knitted cloth which allows the light through but keeps out 99 per cent of the sun's harmful UV rays.

"It also reduces the heat beneath the shade and will cover a large area of the playground.

"I think we are the first school in Oxfordshire to invest in one of these sails."

But at least there was some fun for the animals at Cotswold Wildlife Park in Burford. The tamarins and meerkats were treated to ice cubes with fruit frozen inside, but the otters had the best dish of the day - ice lollies flavoured with cuts of fish.

It wasn't just school life which was disrupted by the fierce sunshine.

As the sizzling heat threatened to melt the road surfaces, Oxfordshire County Council gritters were sent out to spray granite dust and sand to keep them together.

Sticky conditions were reported to the gritters on more than 30 roads, including the A329 near Thame, the A422 in Banbury, and roads near Woodstock, Wheatley, Blewbury, Chinnor and Charlbury yesterday19/07.

On Tuesday, seven roads were treated for heat damage, including areas near Wantage, Lower Heyford and Milton.

It is the first time the gritters have been used since treating ice in April.

In Wallingford, the town's open-air paddling and swimming pool area were packed with children and parents splashing about and keeping cool.

Homes in the Bloxham area, near Banbury, suffered power cuts last night. Southern Electric is investigating the cause.