A six-year-old boy died after drowning at a pool party organised by his scout group, an inquest heard.

Gbenge Ojo, of Kimberley Place, Purley, attended an end of term party with his twin brother Leke on July 14 last year at a former scout leader's home.

Croydon Coroner's Court heard the boys were taken to the party by their father Tunde Ojo, who said the pool appeared to be shallow.

In a statement read out in court, Mr Ojo said when his sons got in the water it reached just above their waist in height.

He said he had been watching his sons in the pool with around 10 other parents.

He said: "After about an hour a lady asked how many children I had at the party. She said she had food for the children and had transparent food containers with hot dogs in them.

"She dropped some of the package, I was helping her pick them up and I heard a commotion, someone saying 'Are you alright? Are you alright?' I saw a man was pulling Gbenge out of the water."

"I called 999 and could see Gbenge was not breathing and I told the ambulance staff. Other people were giving him first aid, they were giving him mouth to mouth and chest compressions."

Paramedics were called to the scene and found the boy in cardiac arrest. After 40 minutes they managed to resuscitate him and he was taken to hospital.

But his condition deteriorated and he developed multiple organ failure, before suffering a further cardiac arrest. He died the next day.

A pathologist report gave the cause of death as multiple organ failure due to near drowning.

Recording a verdict of accidental death, Dr Roy Palmer said: "I am very, very sorry you lost your son in such sad and tragic circumstances.

"On the evidence I heard I am satisfied it was an accidental death."

Addressing Gbenge's father in the court, Dr Palmer added: "You must be feeling awful about the fact your attention was momentarily diverted but you shouldn't, it was an awful, awful event.

"If it is any comfort to you, it may be just as well he didn't survive, because of the length of time he would have been without oxygen, he probably would have been profoundly brain damaged for the rest of his life."