Di fountain to close once a week

Angry parents today hit out at the Diana Memorial Fountain fiasco after it was shut down again today for repairs.

They complained after staff closed the £3.6 million memorial again and revealed it would have to close on one day a week for maintenance for the forseeable future.

The embarrassing admission two weeks after its official inauguration by the Queen infuriated people who had travelled hundreds of miles to see it with the children at the start of the school holidays.

It follows a series of blunders and closures which have lead to criticism of the project.

Among the disappointed visitors were the Cooke family who came from Lancashire to see it. Ian Cooke, from Chorley, said: "It's very disappointing. We told the kids we were bringing them here for a paddle.

"We came down for the weekend and thought we'd come here today as it was nicest day so it's a shame," said Mr Cooke, who was with his wife Jackie and children Tahlia, nine, and Nathaniel, six. He added: "It's also a bit muddy around the outside. It's quite a unique memorial but they have perhaps not thought it through properly."

Stephen Smith, a 43-year-old songwriter from London, had brought his 21-month-old son Taylor for a paddle but was also feeling let down. He said: "There's a lot of people moaning about it. It's a bit of a mess, which is a shame. I live nearby but it will be very disappointing for those who have come a long way."

Rebecca Attree who had brought her three children to see the fountain for the first time said: "We're a bit disappointed that there's no water. We have been told it will be back on but I think they should make it more clear when they are cleaning it.

"It's the first day of their holidays so this was going to be a big outing for us."

According to staff cleaning the fountain it had been shut since 7am and the water was due to be running again at around midday.

This was due to maintenance work and the addition of a new valve to one of the tanks, a member of staff explained. He said: "It's a bit of a mess, it really needs to be sorted out. It's mucky around the outside, it's a silly idea to have grass round the fountain. I would have thought it would be a better idea to put a mat around it."

Theo Moore, spokesman for the Royal Parks, said: "It is amazing how many people are coming to see it.

He said: "Every Monday morning there will be cleaning and maintenance for a few hours for the forseeable future. We will try to bring the time spent on maintenance-down a bit." The revelation comes after the fountain had to be shut last week when it flooded the surrounding grass and engineers had to empty it of water for repairs.

That came after the fountain flooded just 24 hours after it was officially opened by the Queen.

A spokesman for the Royal Parks initially said that the problems were due to a "glitch" with one of the motors. They also blamed the first flood on the fountain becoming blocked by leaves after storms.