An urgent warning has been issued to stay off frozen water after multiple reports of people walking on lakes and ponds just days after the deaths of four boys in a frozen lake in the West Midlands.
Reports of people walking on icy waters have come from across the country, including Suffolk, the West Midlands, Cambridgeshire, Northamptonshire, Somerset, Staffordshire, Derbyshire, London, Lincolnshire and Merseyside, reports the BBC.
Avon and Somerset Police issued a safety warning after "multiple calls" about children playing on a frozen pond. Lincolnshire Police reported that two young boys had walked across a canal and three boys had gone on to a frozen lake.
Cambridgeshire Police were called to three incidents of children playing on frozen lakes. Police in Northamptonshire had calls about children on icy water.
Telford First Responders said someone had taken a bike across a frozen pond. Suffolk County Council said children had been seen on a frozen pond.
London Fire Brigade received calls across about children and dogs on frozen water.
There have also been reports of children and adults on ice in Solihull, Staffordshire, Derbyshire and Liverpool. A woman had to be rescued in Staffordshire after falling into icy water while trying to save her dog.
A London Fire Brigade spokesman said: "It may look sturdy enough to stand on, but it often isn't. If you fall into icy water, the risk of hypothermia is high and can prove fatal.
Siblings Samuel Butler, six, and Finlay Butler, eight, died along with their cousin Thomas Stewart, 11, and Jack Johnson, 10, after they were rescued from Babbs Mill Lake in Kingshurst, Solihull, last Sunday.
On Saturday evening, Avon and Somerset Police tweeted: “This afternoon our control room have been receiving multiple calls concerning children playing on a frozen pond.
“Please give sufficient safety advice to children around the dangers of this.
“Please dial 999 if you witness children playing on a frozen pond.”
Lincolnshire Police tweeted: “We have had two reports in the last hour of children walking on ice in #Grantham and #Horncastle.
“As we know from the Solihull tragedy in which four boys died, the consequences of this can be utterly devastating. Please make sure your children know how dangerous this can be.”
A vigil took place on Saturday afternoon in memory of the four boys who died after falling into Babbs Mill Lake.
