A GARDEN pond in which a Hampshire toddler drowned has been drained within hours of his death.

The family of two-year-old Ashley Chaney has already had the pond filled and plans to transform it into a memorial flower garden.

Ashley's devastated dad announced the plans at an emotional press conference yesterday in which he pleaded for people to fill in their garden ponds.

With tears pouring down his cheeks, Martin Chaney, pictured above right, described how he can still see his smiling little boy, shown right, standing outside the family home in Bursledon.

"Ashley was a really happy, cheerful boy. He loved everybody," said Mr Chaney, 25.

"He used to stand in the front garden and say hello to everyone as they went past. He had a smiley, cheeky little face. I still see him stood there. He was a lovely little boy. He was our baby but now he has gone."

Blue-eyed Ashley died after falling into the pond in the back garden of the family home in Oak Road on Saturday afternoon. The toddler was found face down in the water after apparently wandering off in search of a football.

Family, friends and neighbours tried to resuscitate him but paramedics pronounced him dead at the scene.

Mr Chaney, a mechanic, described how he had been in the front garden with his other children when little Ashley disappeared.

"I turned my back for five seconds and he was gone.

"We went to look for him and got to the end of the road and just knew where he was," said Mr Chaney, who lives with wife Ruth, their daughter Tracey, 11, and sons Mitchel, eight, and seven-month-old Riley.

"He had gone through the house and out into the back garden."

Looking distraught, Mr Chaney pleaded: "Please fill your pond in or make it safe. Make it safe for Ashley.

"We just can't bear to see this happen to anyone else. No one should have to bury their own son like this.

"Keep your eyes open now that summer is coming. We want people to realise how dangerous ponds actually are."

Mr Chaney added: "Our garden pond has now been filled in. We are making a nice flower garden for Ashley."

Paying tribute to everyone who had supported the family, and sent cards and teddy bears to the house, he added: "We have had people around staying with us and helping us get through. The police, ambulance staff, hospital; everyone has been brilliant."

In an earlier statement, Mr and Mrs Chaney described Ashley as a "happy, strong-minded and well-loved two-year-old".

The couple said they had been devastated by his death and could not begin to come to terms with their loss.

Hampshire police have described the incident as a tragic accident.

Officers are investigating what happened on behalf of the coroner, before an inquest takes place.

A police spokesman said it appeared the toddler had drowned at the scene. A post-mortem examination to confirm the cause of death was expected to take place later this week.

The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents said about eight children died in similar accidents every year in the UK.

A spokesman said grilles or fences could help, but the only way to make a garden pond 100 per cent safe was to fill it in.