A POPULAR Oxford outdoor pool remained closed today after vandals dyed the water purple.

Hinksey Pool, in Hinksey Park, near Abingdon Road, was closed after an unknown substance was put in the water on Friday night.

Scores of children were turned away from the pool on Saturday and hundreds more face disappointment as they wait for it to reopen.

David Rundle, deputy leader of Oxford City Council, said: "I was standing down by the pool and every few minutes somebody was coming up and asking what had happened. Everybody is shocked. They can't believe somebody would be so mean."

It is the second time in a fortnight vandals have attacked the city council-run pool, which has only just reopened after the floods.

Last month, an electric control system for the nearby Splash water play area was damaged.

Council officers estimate it could be up to three weeks before the pool is reopened after cleaning.

It means much of the summer holidays have been ruined for children desperate to go swimming.

Mr Rundle said the police had taken away a sample of water from the pool for testing and Thames Water had been contacted.

The pool cannot be drained into the sewerage system until it was determined what substance had been put into it, he said.

Mr Rundle added: "It looks too unwholesome to be Ribena. We're talking about hundreds of families being turned away.

"We're not even thinking about how much money we have lost - the most important thing is safety."

It costs £4.40 for an adult swim at the pool - or £3.40 for early and late sessions - while children can swim for free.

Marie McDonagh, from Cowley, had taken her children to the pool on Saturday to cool off as temperatures rose to 25C (77 degrees Fahrenheit).

She said: "I'm disgusted. It's typical - it's one of the hottest days of the year and it's the first time I have been down this summer. I rushed from work this morning and then to make a packed lunch.

"It has got to be an awful lot of dye. It can't have been just one bottle. I will have to get the paddling pool out."

Her daughter Caitlin, eight, said: "It looks like somebody has died in it."

Liz Wood, from the Isle of Man, was visiting friends in Oxford and had come to the pool to show her 11-year-old daughter Chloe where she used to swim as a child.

She said: "I just think our society is in meltdown. There's no respect for anything. We haven't managed to instill any morals into this generation."

A spokesman for Thames Valley Police said someone living close to the park had called them about a group of youths behaving suspiciously at 10pm on Friday.

Officers visited the park and took the names and addresses of six or seven youths.