A four-year-old girl has died following an incident at Waterworld this afternoon (4 August).

Police were called to the Festival Way attraction at around 4:20pm, to reports of a young girl in "a critical condition" in the Lagoon area of the park.

Waterworld staff and paramedics from the West Midlands Ambulance Service treated the girl at the scene before taking her to hospital for further treatment.

Despite the best efforts of hospital staff, the girl died a short while later. The girl's next of kin have been informed and are being supported by specially-trained officers.

Detective Chief Inspector Lucy Maskew, from Staffordshire Police, said: "Our thoughts are with the family at this terribly sad time.

"We are now making enquiries and looking to establish the circumstances of the incident. We would ask that members of the public avoid speculating in these early stages of the investigation and allow the family to grieve."

It has been confirmed the waterpark will remain closed tomorrow "out of respect for the family".

A Waterworld spokesperson said: "It is with great sadness that we learned of this little girl's passing this evening. All our thoughts are with her family and loved ones during these extremely difficult times.

"Waterworld is in shock and has decided to remain closed tomorrow out of respect for the family. Waterworld is working closely with the authorities at this sad time.

"If you have an online booking for tomorrow we will be refunding your tickets automatically tomorrow morning, you do not need to contact us in that regard.

"This can take up to five days to reach your account - we would appreciate it if you could refrain from contacting us during that time, as we focus on supporting our team members and the investigation into today's incident."

Anyone who may have witnessed the incident or has knowledge of it is asked to call 101 quoting incident number 460 of 4 August.