HE was always the class clown at school.

So it was no surprise when Pip Randelle made a return to his former school as a professional clown to join the fight to save their pool.

The 19-year-old clown and his trapeze artist sister, Stephanie, brought their circus friends to Botley Primary School for a special fundraising show.

Happy Circus, which is run by their dad, Russ, waived their usual £2,000 fee and donated 50 per cent of all ticket sales to the Botley SPLASH fund, a total of £700.

Botley SPLASH was set up by the Friends of Botley School to keep the pool open when government funding stopped, so that their children learn how to swim.

The charity needs £2,500 a year to keep the open-air pool running and is looking to raise £80,000 to update the facilities and build a roof for the pool so that it could be used throughout the year.

Martin Coe, who has helped organise the event, said: “It is such great boost to our fundraising campaign because the money could potentially secure the pool’s future for another year.”