MUMS and toddlers have been told a popular paddling pool is finally set to re-open this weekend.

The outdoor pool at the Paddocks Community Centre, off Long Road, Canvey, was closed for refurbishments in mid-May and should have reopened in June. Castle Point Council officials say youngsters will be able to splash about in it again from 10am on Saturday.

John Anderson, a town and borough councillor, said: “I’m very pleased it is re-opening and so are many parents, but it is supposed to close again at the end of August, that doesn’t leave very long.

“I want the council to extend the opening to the end of September and I want it to apologise for the delay.”

The refurbishments involved repainting the pool, building new islands in it and replacing sand in the nearby sandpit.

Great-grandmother Vicky Gorham, 66, of Deepwater Road, Canvey works at the pool. She said: “I can’t understand why it hasn’t opened yet. The weather has been good so far and children have missed out big time. I would have liked to have seen my grandchildren playing down there.”

Mum Natalie Darby, 26, of Eastfield Road, Canvey, has children aged one and six. She said: “It’s disgusting. The paddling pool has always been really good value for money and it’s usually a great place to take the children. There’s nowhere else really to take them on the island.”

Peter Burch, councillor responsible for leisure and open spaces, said the health and safety review was agreed after Thundersley youngster Natea Dackombe almost drowned at Canvey’s Waterside Farm swimming pool after her hair got caught in a vent.

He said: “We had to make sure the work was absolutely right, as we wouldn’t have wanted to re-open, then close it again because of some unforseen problem.”

The pool, sandpit and play area usually opens from the spring bank holiday, in May, until the end of August.

Three-hour sessions at the paddling pool and playground cost £1. Sessions will run from 10am until 1pm and 1pm until 4pm.