Alton Water is to remain closed to the public over the May bank holiday weekend and during what would have been the school half-term holiday.

East Anglian Daily Times: Alton Water will remain closed during the school half term and May bank holiday. Picture: STEPHEN SQUIRRELLAlton Water will remain closed during the school half term and May bank holiday. Picture: STEPHEN SQUIRRELL (Image: Archant)

The site has been closed during lockdown and, despite parks and beaches being reopened to the public, will remain closed.

A spokesperson for Anglian Water, which runs the park, said: “Our sites are currently closed to the public at this time. We know our leisure attractions are loved by many but protecting the health and safety of our colleagues and visitors is our top priority.

“We will remain closed over the bank holiday and during half-term and would like to ask everyone to please respect the difficult decision we have needed to make.”

Anglian Water has said it is working on plans to reopen the Suffolk park as soon as it is confident it can do it safely and that it is balancing the needs and wishes of their active communities.

They added that as a tourism venue they have additional factors to consider when meeting social distancing guidelines.

“Protecting our staff has been at the forefront of our minds since the lockdown began, even though hundreds are out working every day to keep essential services flowing.

“We don’t want our colleagues to face abuse as has sadly been the case recently – it’s also very important to us to make sure our park staff are not being expected to police visitors or manage social distancing with crowds either.”

Waters in Grafham, Pitsford and Rutland will remain closed alongside smaller sites across the country.