Council produces safety policy after seven months of inaction

The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents – Rospa – submitted a report to Hull Council last year making a series of recommendations after discovering there were "little or no" public information signs at many sites, and "inconsistency" in protection measures, including the provision of rescue equipment.

The report was commissioned in 2008 following two deaths in the River Hull.

In one, a man drowned near Myton Bridge that year.

In another, a year earlier, student Xavier Findlator, 20, died after "skylarking" on North Bridge after a night out.

An inquest into Mr Findlator's death heard police were unable to find any life-saving equipment in the area.

There have since been at least two other deaths in the river.

The body of father-of-two Alexander Spence, 30, was found by a group of rowers in the water in the Bankside area in April, just yards from a police search team, a fortnight after he had gone missing while walking home after a night out.

Police said his death appeared to have been a "tragic accident".

And last month the body of a man in his late 20s was recovered by police divers opposite Tower Street. His death is not being treated as suspicious.

The policy, which will go before the council's cabinet next week, calls for risk assessments to be carried out at open water sites, and for risks to be reduced "as far as reasonably practicable".

Any improvements will include providing signs and information at each site, and health and safety training for council employees.

But it has been confirmed no new measures to reduce the risk of people falling in, or extra equipment to help them get out, have been introduced since the review began.

Opposition Labour group leader, Councillor Steve Brady, said the council should act now to improve safety at known "hot spots" while it determined what other action, if any, would be taken.

He also said the policy should be more developed than the one going to cabinet.

He said: "It's been an issue for years. It's all about fencing and security.

"I would have thought if there's a report going to Cabinet, surely senior officers have got some nous about what needs to be done.

"I don't know why they don't put fencing up along Princes Dock side, it would stop accidents.

"They should also put fencing up at North Bridge and Drypool Bridge, the known hot spots.

"The council has the capability to address that problem, not just talk about it."

The Liberal Democrat-led authority has a budget of 127,000 this year to spend on open water sites – and that includes their maintenance.

Coun Mike Ross, cabinet member for community safety, said the assessments had to come first.

He said: "Should the policy be accepted it will provide a framework for what needs to be done.

"I would like to think on the whole the sites in Hull are relatively safe but if some action needs to be taken this framework allows that to be done."

He added: "It's a common sense policy. You can't just go around putting fences up, you've got to assess what's needed first."

The council is responsible for many open water sites inside and outside the city, including ponds, lakes, marinas, fountains, rivers, gardens and drains.

The Rospa report also warned that a failure to carry out risk assessments at the sites could leave the council exposed to third-party claims for damages.