Do not swim in open water
We take pride in our beautiful local parks and waterways, and we want everyone to enjoy our outdoor spaces safely. However, we are issuing a vital reminder to all residents and visitors regarding the dangers of swimming in open waters.
While the water may look inviting, especially in warmer weather, our local lakes, rivers, canals, and quarries contain hidden hazards that pose a significant risk to life. To keep our community safe, we ask that you do not enter or swim in any unauthorised area.
Keep the following risks in mind:
- Cold Water Shock: Even on hot days, open water temperatures remain extremely low. This can cause immediate physical reactions that make swimming or breathing difficult, even for strong swimmers resulting in drowning
- Hidden Hazards: Underwater machinery, strong currents, and tangled vegetation are often invisible from the surface and can easily trap individuals
- Fishing Equipment: Many of our lakes may contain fishing lines which swimmers can become tangled in
- Water Quality: Open water can contain harmful bacteria or pollutants that cause serious illness, including waterborne diseases such as Weil’s disease, caused by rat’s urine
- Alcohol: Never enter the water if you have been drinking
This warning applies across the whole borough, including all lakes, rivers, canals, quarries, and balancing lakes.
There is also a risk to others who can lose their lives while attempting a rescue.
Use our safe, supervised facilities instead. The borough has excellent leisure provision operated by Everyone Active in partnership with the Council:
- Pingles Leisure Centre, Nuneaton: featuring a main pool, leisure pool, baby pool, and outdoor pool
- Bedworth Physical Activity Hub, Miners’ Welfare Park, Bedworth: the brand-new facility featuring a 25-metre pool and a learner pool
Safety is a collective effort
Parents, please talk to your children about these dangers, and be vigilant about where they spend time during hot weather.
- If you see someone in distress in the water, do not enter after them. Call 999 immediately and ask for the Fire Service or Coastguard