Calls for compulsory water safety lessons in schools after incidents in Nutfield and Stoke

This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

Police have issued warnings about the dangers of swimming in open water in the hot weather after a boy went missing at a lake in Stoke-on-Trent and the body of a man was recovered from a lake in Surrey.

The incidents have prompted renewed calls for compulsory water safety lessons in schools.

Specialist teams were searching Westport Lake, in Staffordshire, after three children got into difficulties in the water just before 5pm on Monday. Two of the children, aged 12 and 13, made it safely to shore, but the third, named by police as Ryan Evans, 13, remained missing.

Their families were being supported by police family liaison officers.

The search was called off at 11pm on Monday but resumed again on Tuesday morning.

Teams from Staffordshire fire service are focusing on the shallow areas of the lake, while two teams of police divers search deeper waters.

In Surrey, emergency services responded to reports of a man struggling in the water at Mercers Lake, Nutfield, at about 6.30pm on Monday. Surrey fire and rescue service’s water search team initially found no trace of him but at 9.20pm divers recovered a man’s body.

On Tuesday police said he was a 31-year-old man from Redhill.



The death was being treated as unexplained but not suspicious as no one else was believed to be involved.

Ministers were asked in the Commons on Monday why they had failed to introduce mandatory teaching about cold water shock to the primary education curriculum, as recommended in a government-backed report by the National Water Safety Forum almost a year ago.

The education minister, Nick Gibb, said the government took water safety very seriously and was “reviewing the recommendations”.

Dawn Whittaker, a member of the forum and the chief fire officer for East Sussex, expressed frustration at the lack of progress.



“That report has been around for almost a year now and we are keen to understand what the government departments can do,” she said.

“It is just coming up to peak drowning period – as the weather gets hot. Every death should heighten our awareness that this is a real issue and that somehow we are not getting the right education to these young people.”

Whittaker added: “MPs are asking questions in the house now because their constituents are suffering as a result … some of these deaths are preventable.”

Surrey police said there had been several complaints about the alleged antisocial behaviour of young people swimming in Mercers Lake. It issued a warning about the dangers of unsupervised swimming.

“Bodies of water may look safe, but can hide dangers such as hidden currents, hazardous objects, pollution and cold water shock, which affects our ability to swim and reach safety if experiencing difficulties.

“It can also be difficult to gauge water depth – you could find yourself in unexpectedly deep water or injure yourself jumping into shallow water.”

It also offered these safety tips: