Facebook removes waterpark advert over scam fears

Thousands of people had expressed their interest in the Summer Safari Waterpark 2016 event advertised to be taking place in a number of cities, including Durham.

Facebook confirmed the pages had been removed after being reported by concerned readers.

Once such page said: "We will be secluding off an area to host our outdoor Water Park in your city, so lets get Wet n Crazy!! This Summer 2016!!"

However a number of readers spotted that the image accompanying the ad appeared to be of a water park in Nevada in the US.

Warnings from readers remain online, noting that the organisers did not provide contact details on the Facebook pages and there was no phone number, company name or address that could help identify those behind the project.

It comes after similar concerns were raised about a promotion for a non-existent tour based on the BBC's popular Total Wipeout series which proved to be fake.

Facebook later disabled the page.

Councils in the cities named, which also included Liverpool and Manchester, said they had not received applications to hold such events.

A Liverpool City Council spokesman said: "We would advise people not to provide personal details and certainly not send any money for an event which currently has no tangible location or dates."