The Diana Memorial Fountain in Hyde Park has been shut for the whole of a record-hot summer after a series of technical faults left it dry, disappointing Londoners and tourists who normally use it to cool off. Royal Parks, the charity that maintains the site, has apologised for the timing, acknowledging the closure came "particularly given the prolonged high temperatures we've been experiencing", and says work is under way to restore water flow within the next few weeks.

The £5.2million granite feature, which cost more than its original £3million budget and opened in July 2004 as a tribute to Princess Diana, first broke down when a pump drawing water from a local borehole suffered a mechanical failure; once repaired, a separate software fault in the control system then prevented the water supply being switched back on. The closure, announced on 1 July, has been complicated by the fact several other London parks share the same water network, adding pressure on maintenance teams. The fountain has a troubled history, having flooded and closed just a day after its royal opening, shut again over slip injuries weeks later, and been criticised by MPs in 2006 as "ill-conceived and ill-executed".