The local open swimming area has cancelled its famed Solstice Swim along with telling members that it remains closed.

Vobster Quay, which allows open water swimming alongside diving, and describes itself as the UK's 'friendliest' centre has been closed since March.

Vobster, which is between Frome and Midsomer Norton, has 36-acres of water fed from underground springs.

It is a very popular venue, attracting world class divers who can take the highest technical diving courses.

But today (May 22) it announced that its waters remain closed and it was cancelling one of its most popular events, the Summer Solstice swim which going to happen at dawn.

In their statement the group said: "All of us at Vobster wish all our swimmers and divers well – we hope you are still healthy and know you are champing at the bit to get back in the water.

"We are currently working with national bodies for both swimming and diving, plus other inland sites, to make sure we have the best advice in these difficult times and that we can implement the safest on site procedures for all our visitors and staff. Thank you for your continued patience.

"We will have further updates on opening dates after 1st June, plus details of our proposed new systems for managing the new risks from coronavirus. Social distancing will be crucial to keeping levels of transmission down and we will be playing our part in this. We will be asking everyone who visits to also be personally responsible with their cleanliness, and honest about their exposure to covid 19. This is still very much a team effort where we can all contribute to the overall progress of reducing the impact of covid 19.

"When we open, there will be a phased return to whatever the 'new normal' is. We will start steadily and regularly assess how our procedures work. We certainly won't be able to 'throw the gates open', so please bear with us. In the meantime, Vobster Quay remains shut, with no services available.

"We will post updates here, and on our website as soon as we have them. The next update is likely to be at the start of June and have more details for our new entry procedures and modified on site facilities. This update will also confirm our opening dates for swimming from mid June and diving later....

"We appreciate your patience as we work through the process of re opening Vobster as the safest facility we can achieve and look forward to welcoming you back.

Details and updates can be found here:the Vobster Quay website