Parents welcome opening of £475k splash park

Katlyn Smith, aged six, enjoyed being among the first visitors to the splash park

A new £475,000 splash park has been officially opened.

Located at Swindon's Coate Water Country Park, the fully accessible water play area includes a paddling pool and various features and games.

It opened on Wednesday after Swindon Borough Council had been forced to delay the launch due to problems with the delivery of critical parts from Spain.

Reaction from parents and children was positive with about 30 children playing in the water within an hour of its opening.

Councillor Marina Strinkovsky officially opened the park on Wednesday

Councillor Marina Strinkovsky pressed the activation button to start the play fountains and jets, which will run from 11:00 to 18:00 BST every day until the end of September.

She said: "Pressing that button and seeing all fountains go up was just amazing."

Ms Strinkovsky added that she thought the people of Swindon would think "it was money well spent because of the amount of joy it will bring to families and kids".

Water cannons are among the features of the attraction

The splash park replaced a defunct area of the park and designers worked alongside the community to plan the attraction.

It features a sloped design allowing wheelchair users to access the paddling pool, rumble strips, handrails, and interactive elements outside of the wet zones.

Neil, from Stratton St Margaret, took his two sons, aged 18 months and three-years-old, to the opening.

"I'm very happy with it. I hope that the community makes full use of it.

"With the playing fields just behind and the ducks on the other side, it's a perfect day out," he said.