Repairs to a paddling pool in Hamworthy Park, Poole, are set to go ahead after Borough of Poole Council agreed to help fund the revamp, costing a total of £350,000.

Community group Friends of Hamworthy Park had until Monday 21st January to help raise the money required to carry out the repairs. On Tuesday, Hamworthy East councillor Mike White dismissed rumours that the public would have to help fund the project as “absolute rubbish.”

Pat Bullock, Chairman of Friends of Hamworthy Park, told Buzz News that the project’s initial cost of £250,000 had spiralled to £329,000 when the council brought in a new consultant to draw up the plans.

The future of the pool looked uncertain when the council admitted that the cost had exceeded the anticipated budget.

Now that the authorities have found the money required, the work to rebuild the paddling pool, which had been crumbling and crackling, will commence in February with the aim of being completed by the summer.