A campaign group that wanted to reopen a “beloved” family paddling pool in Angus has thrown in the towel.
Former chairman Mark Arbuthnott helped to form the group in February but has now pulled the plug due to a lack of interest.
The pool closure was agreed as part of the council’s February budget when the authority agreed a three-year savings/cuts package of £19 million.
Over 800 people backed the Keep Brechin’s Paddling Pool group on Facebook but few bothered to turn up to a public meeting with councillors.
Mr Arbuthnott said: “We had a public meeting with our councillors but it was poorly attended, so I have decided to stop pursuing it.
“All of the people who posted online said they would come to this meeting and they didn’t, so clearly it’s not as big an issue as we thought.
“It is a shame it has come to this because we have very little play facilities.
“People who complain the most about these issues are actually the least willing to do the work to sort the problem.”
An online petition was also launched urging Angus Council to reverse its decision, but was signed by just 178 people.
Angus Council cited the biggest reason for closure as being the heavy costs that stem from vandalism, ranging from broken glass left in the pool to discarded nappies that contaminate the water.
Angus Council revealed it cost £25,000 to clean and retrieve items such as bikes, litter, soil, stones and used nappies from the pool last year.
Long-awaited and major flood prevention works by the River South Esk were to result in the pool’s temporary closure, along with the rest of Inch Park.
Brechin Community Council chairman Derek Harper said he expects the pool to be idle in Inch Park until 2016 when the flood scheme is completed.
Mr Harper met with the council’s strategic director, Alan McKeown, to discuss ways it could stay open in May.
The paddling pool which first opened more than 60 years ago had only been filled with water during the summer.