People have been enjoying the hot weather wherever and however they can as temperatures soar in Oxfordshire.

Parks and river banks have been filled with people having picnics, and despite strict warnings about the dangers, people have still been swimming in rivers.

A safer way to enjoy swimming in the sun is to go to an open-air swimming pool, such as Hinksey Pool, in Oxford.

Lucy Cherry, deputy manager at the pool, said attendance had been almost a third higher than last year.

She said: "We have been extremely busy over the weekend and during busy periods we had to operate a one in, one out policy.

"We had 15,000 swimmers in June. May was pretty busy and, if the weather continues like this, July will be too.

"It's a great way to cool off and it's in the middle of a lovely park."

Traders in Oxford have been enjoying the hot weather as well, with shoppers clearing the shelves of suncream, bottled water, electric fans, barbecues and summer outfits.

Rob Jordan, manager of Boots, in Banbury Road, Summertown, said there were long queues for suncream and bottled water over the weekend.

Ken Mingard, assistant manager at B&Q, in Bet- ween Towns Road, Cowley, said sales of air conditioners and fans soared over the weekend, and charcoal and barbecues had sold out.

A spokesman at GPS, in Cornmarket Street, said shoppers were flocking to buy summer outfits during the heatwave.

She said: "We have got a sale on, so we had a massive queue, with people buying T-shirts, summer tops, dresses, shorts and anything with short sleeves."

The hotter weather in Oxfordshire may be providing the ideal breeding conditions for a very rare giant beetle, a wildlife expert said.

Entomologist Geordie Jackson, of the Stratford-upon-Avon Butterfly Farm, said the Capricorn beetle, which can grow up to 6cm long, is cropping up with increasing frequency since it was seen on these shores last year for the first time in centuries.

The beetles, which have large, powerful jaws capable of biting through wood, are normally found in Eastern Europe.

After startling a Warwickshire housewife by climbing out of a roof beam in May last year, the species has been spotted in Oxfordshire, Staffordshire, Shropshire and South Wales.