A grandmother said she was "disgusted" to find a children’s splash pad covered in duck poo.

The splash pad in Abingdon’s Abbey Meadow Park is cleaned regularly but is often covered in poo from geese from the nearby river.

Sandra Bishop said she was "appalled" when she took her grandchildren to the splash pad during last week's heatwave.

She said: "The place is disgusting, certainly not fit for children to play in. We took our grandchildren there for a day out but left after 15 minutes.

"We have a splash park in Witney where we live and it's mostly out of order but never filthy.

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"I took one picture but there were 30 to 40 piles of duck or swan poo and there was no sign of the council making any effort to clean it up even though they were working nearby in the gardens and had council vehicles there.

One pile of goose poo but there were many more, said Mrs Bishop (Image: Sandra Bishop)

"We were sure they were going to clean it up so we were horrified when they turned the water on and let it all mash up. We couldn't believe what we were seeing. We left soon after."

It is not the first time complaints have been made about dirty splash pads. In summer 2022 appalled parents posted pictures on social media of the mess.

Yolande Mirza said children were not able to walk barefoot on the water play area due to the amount of faeces.

Vale of White Horse District Council put up fencing around the splash park to stop determined geese leaving their droppings but it has not solved the problem. 

It said it also contracts a company to clean the splash pad play area every day and urged the public not to feed the birds as it attracts them to the park.  

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A spokesperson for Vale of White Horse District Council said: “Our colleagues at GLL who manage the splash pad at Abbey Meadow in Abingdon inspect and clean it daily.

“In 2022 we installed a fence around the splash pad, which has improved safety and deterred geese from the splash pad area, but ultimately it is not possible to stop them flying onto the site and we have had reports of more birds than normal accessing the area this summer.

“The staff at Abbey Meadow will continue to monitor the splash pad throughout the day and will carry out additional cleaning when required.

"To help discourage the geese we urge visitors to stop feeding them and to dispose of their food waste and rubbish properly."

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