Better than Benidorm? Stockton staff turn skip into pool to keep cool during heatwave

Workers on Teesside who struggled with the soaring temperatures found a novel way to keep cool on the UK's hottest day on record.

As temperatures climbed to the high 30s on Tuesday 19 July, bosses at Stockton's Scott Bros came up with the inventive idea of turning one of their skips into a make-shift pool.

They lined the container with plastic sheeting before filling it up with cold water and encouraging their employees to go for a dip.

Staff were even given water pistols to shoot as part of the efforts to cool down.

Director Peter Scott said: “It certainly beats a hot tub in this kind of weather and for once we don’t mind staff ‘skip-ing’ work a while to cool down.

"We might even start a new trend among cold water swimmers.”

The DIY swimming pool went down a treat with workers at the skip hire and recycling firm.

Machine operator Neil Crawford said: "It’s almost as good as being by the pool in Benidorm.”

Across the UK, major incidents were declared by a number of fire services tackling wildfires and the country's hottest temperature of 40.3C was provisionally recorded in Coningsby, Lincolnshire, on Tuesday afternoon.

According to the Met Office, the previous all-time temperature record is thought to have been broken at 34 observation sites.