As the long, hot summer draws to a close, one mystery continues to puzzle the people of Brentford – what happened to its fountains?

The water feature in Brentford Market Place was one of the crowning glories of a £2m town centre renovation which was completed in 2014.

But two years after they first spouted forth amid much fanfare, the fountains have remained dry throughout a summer which has seen record-breaking temperatures .

Despite Hounslow Council having stumped up half the money for the town centre refurbishment, with the London mayor contributing the other £1m, getwestlondon understands it does not have the power to switch the fountains on and off.

'Waste of taxpayers' money'

Nor, as one local councillor had suggested, does that power lie with the team at Verdict Bakery, the café occupying the ground floor of the old magistrates' court which faces the square.

getwestlondon believes the switch is actually controlled by Trehaven, the company which we understand owns the former court building.

The old Brentford magistrates' court, which was converted into flats and a café

But why that switch has remained set to off this summer, when many people might have relished the chance to cool off in the fountains' jets, remains unclear.

Nor is it known how control of the fountains apparently ended up in private hands when they were at the heart of such a sizeable public investment.

Neither Trehaven nor the council has responded to getwestlondon 's enquiries, despite numerous approaches.

The only person to shed any light on the matter, in fact, was Alen Mesic, the manager of Verdict Bakery.

Fountains hit by 'bubble-makers'

He told getwestlondon in July that there had been a couple of occasions last summer when troublemakers poured bubbles into the fountains creating an unholy mess.

But he couldn't say for sure whether that was why they were left sitting idle this summer.

He told getwestlondon he wanted them back on as he felt they were an attractive feature, at least when bubble-free, which pleased his customers.

"We would like the fountains to be switched on as they're an attractive feature, especially when illuminated by the lights in the evening," he said.

One contributor to a forum on the local website BrentfordTW8 had his own theory as to why the fountains remained inactive.

He said they were so badly positioned they would soak anyone sitting on the nearby bench.

Another person branded the fountains a "total waste of council tax money" and said even when they were operating they were "pretty pathetic".