London Fields and Clissold Park paddling pools to be shut in 2020 for revamps

The paddling pools at London Fields and Clissold Park will be shut for the whole year while they are both replaced with better facilities.

According to Hackney Council both pools have come to the end of their life and cannot continue to be operated safely without major work, including the introduction of automatic filtration systems - which reduce water consumption and improve hygiene.

The council will consult pool users on what they'd like to see with a revamp.

The Clissold Park stand-alone pool will be closed for the whole of this year while consultation and work takes place, which is expected to cost up to £700,000.

London Fields will be integrated into the wider project to deliver a new learner pool at the Lido site and will be closed for longer while the new pool is built.

The council's parks chief, Cllr Jon Burke, said: "While we had hoped to avoid closing the pools during the summer months, this has unfortunately not proved possible because of the age of each facility, the scale of work required and the need for filtration to be introduced. I hope residents will be able to bear with us while we bring them better facilities."