WITH temperatures soaring, it seemed the perfect way to beat the heat.

Devoted dad Richard Cole inflated a paddling pool to enable his children and their friends keep cool during the long summer holidays.

Parents looked forward to their youngsters enjoying hours of harmless fun during one of the hottest summers on record.

The pool has become a popular addition to the play equipment outside a block of maisonettes in Efford Way, Pennington.

However, council chiefs have told them to remove the facility on health and safety grounds.

They claim that someone walking through the communal courtyard in front of the flats could trip over the pool and fall into the water. Mr Cole has been ordered to dismantle it or risk the council doing the job and sending him the bill.

Officials imposed a similar ban after the pool was installed last year. Parents hoped they would relax the rules during the current heatwave but have received an official warning. Now tempers on the estate are rising faster than the temperature.

Mr Cole, who has two children aged five and 18 months, said: "I put the pool up to provide kids with plenty of fun.

"It gets very hot here and the pool is pretty popular but the council says someone could walk into it at night and fall in."

Neighbour Dot Street said: "The children live in maisonettes with no gardens so what are they supposed to do for the next six weeks? It just seems so unfair."

In a letter to Mr Cole, housing officer Claire Quinn says: "Due to health and safety issues, New Forest District Council will not be liable for any accidents that occur. This is a condition for all flats and maisonettes with a communal area.

"Could I therefore request that the pool is removed within 24 hours. Failure to do so may result in a contractor removing it and you could be re-charged."

A council spokesman told the Daily Echo: "Inflatable swimming pools are not suitable for any council-owned communal areas on health and safety grounds."

Mr Cole, 27, said he would move the pool into a corner and surround it with safety cones into a bid to overcome objections.