Crowds flocking to their nearby watering holes for a cooling dip could be turned away disappointed due to overcrowding across London this week.

Richmond Council is encouraging residents to check its website or social media before setting off for pools on the park in case it has reached it’s swimmers capacity level.

With temperature’s soaring above 30 degrees on Monday (June 19), the outdoor pool posted on its twitter feed that they had to close early as they had reached safety capacity for the day.

Cllr Meena Bond, Richmond Council Cabinet Member for Sports, said: “The safety of all our customers is of paramount importance.

Therefore, we must ensure that our sporting facilities, including the outdoor pools adopt safer operating practices, including capacity limits - to do otherwise would be irresponsible.

There is also currently a high demand for the ongoing term-time programme of swimming lessons, school swimming lessons, fitness classes and gym use which will be prioritised over additional entry.

For pool opening times and to check capacity visit http://www.richmond.gov.uk/services/sports/pools_on_the_park/potp_opening_times or @poolsonthepark on Twitter