A PRESTON councillor is campaigning to stop incidents of drowning in Preston following the death of a teenager on Bank Holiday Monday.

Coun Ken Cole has asked the council's Leisure Services directorate to erect warning signs along the River Ribble near the Tram Bridge - where Robert Calvert of Derry Road, Ribbleton, drowned.

He was swept away after trying to swim across the Ribble in the warm weather. Fire and rescue workers pulled his body out of the water near the Tram Bridge after he entered the water near Avenham Park.

The police helicopter was scrambled to help locate him along with fire and ambulance crews.

Coun Cole has also asked the department to highlight the danger of swimming in disused quarries - notorious accident spots that claim the lives of people every year.

He said: "One death is a tragedy. I hope that Leisure Services will put up warning signs close to the bridge and other places along the river bank close to Avenham and Miller Parks.

"Hopefully these signs will stop people being swept to their deaths.

"It is only at certain times of the day that one notices how strong the currents are.

"I have also asked Leisure Services to point out the dangers of swimming in lakes and disused quarries.

"People swim out to the middle of these bodies of water without realising just how cold it is further in.

"As a result, the swimmer can get cramp and get into difficulties, sometimes drowning."

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