Wardens to Patrol Swanholme Lakes After Multiple Deaths
New team aims to educate and protect as council acts swiftly in Lincoln
Wardens are set to begin patrolling Swanholme Lakes in Lincoln from Friday, following the deaths of two teenagers in the water.
The City of Lincoln Council says the new patrols will operate daily until October, hoping to discourage swimming and keep people safe during the summer months.
Lincoln City Council Leader, Naomi Tweddle, says the focus is on making sure everyone understands the risks:
"We would want to make sure that young people, in fact everybody, is educated about the dangers of open water."
"The idea is that these open space wardens can provide some of that education," she said.
She added that, with the summer holidays approaching and warmer weather expected, the council wants to prevent further tragedies.
"We just want to try and get the message out that the lakes are incredibly dangerous."
"We hope that they'll be able to react quickly. Of course, they can't be everywhere at once, but once they hear of any issues in the parks, they'll be able to travel there and deal with it then."
The council leader explained how quickly the team was set up:
"We decided very quickly that we wanted to pilot these open space wardens to see if we can have an impact."
"We've worked really, really quickly to get that contract procured, but also to provide specialist training to these wardens."
Councillors are expected to formally approve the plan tonight, with patrols running until the end of October.