‘Tombstoning’ warning on North East coastlines ahead of BHW
The bank holiday has FINALLY landed on a sunny weekend - but before you head to the beach we're being warned about 'tombstoning'.
Emergency services are warning about the dangerous trend of ‘tombstoning’ ahead of bank holiday weekend.
It’s set to be bright, sunny and warm for the next few days but before you head to the beach we’re being warned about staying safe on the North East coastline.
‘Tombstoning’ is jumping or diving into water from a great height. It can be done safely, but at hotspots across out region there have been many incidents and even fatalities.
Dave Brant, a RNLI Lifeguard Manager in our region, said:
"It might look good but the consquences of this going wrong is lifechanging and unfortunately there are lots of cases where young people have been injured, have died and have had life-changing injuries from this activity.
"The sea or the coast isn't like a swimming pool where it's the same depth and you can see the bottom.
"There is so much that can go wrong underneath the water; the current, what type of swell we've got and people don't realise that."
It comes one week after a 13-year-old boy fell off a ledge on the cliff edge at Whitley Bay. Officers attended the scene and assisted fellow emergency services in a rescue operation, which involved the boy being taken to hospital for medical attention.
Sergeant Suzanne Crossley from Northumbria Police’s Marine Unit said:
"A fatality is the worst that can happen. It's just about educating people that water does seem fantastic but it's not, it comes with dangers and we've experienced that this summer.
"We have had an incident recently where this has happened and it's just about trying to get people to realise the dangers of such activities."
Find more safety tips HERE.