So far most of the summer has been a wash-out and one result has been a big drop in the number of people heading out from Swindon for fun days to the Cotswold Water Park.

At the heart of the water park is Keynes Country Park where, because of the bad weather, visitor numbers are down by nearly 50 per cent.

Keynes Park traditionally attracts thousands of fun-seekers from Swindon during the school summer holidays and it is regarded as one of the town's favourite recreational spots.

But this year the number of Swindon families spending time on the artificial beaches of the award-winning park is way down.

Tim Pain, the new chief executive of the Cotswold Water Park Society, which runs Keynes Park, said that the weather was to blame for the fall in visitor numbers.

He said: "The capacity number of people the park can take on any one day is about 4,000.

"We lock the gates when this number is reached and during the good weather of last year's summer holidays this had to be done on several occasions.

"So far this year we have only had to do this on one day which was a particularly good Sunday and the daily numbers we have been averaging so far over this holiday are around the 2,000 mark.

"No one working here can remember a summer like it.

"We are of course hoping the weather will improve and there is still time for this to happen but we do need the money from our summer visitors to help finance some of the improvements we are planning to do during the winter. However things are not desperate yet."

Earlier this year the water park society opened its new £2m Cotswold Water Park Gateway Centre, which is situated just off the Spine Road at nearby South Cerney, as part of its long term plans to put the water park on the map.

l On Saturday the Rain Or Shine Theatre Company will be returning to Keynes Park to perform Shakespeare's Love's Labour's Lost. The performance starts at 8pm. Tickets, which cost £10 for adults, £5 for children and £8 concessions, can be bought in advance or on the day. For further details call 01285 861459.

Martin Vincent