Cornish beaches have born witness to a number of tragic events this summer, from the death of three-year-old Abbie Livingstone-Nurse who was buried alive while digging a sand hole last weekend, to the young surfer who broke both legs when he jumped from a cliff into shallow waters earlier this month. And hundreds more fatal or life-threatening incidents occur on the UK's coast each week.
While these events often can't be directly blamed on a shortage of lifeguards, they draw attention to the issue of beach safety.
Malcolm Bell, chief executive of South West Tourism, said: 'We do need to get more funding for lifeguards in Britain, and get clearer guidelines for the legal responsibilities of local authorities and beach owners. If not, we may have to start removing lifeguards rather than bringing in new ones.'
Only 50 out of 119 beaches in the south west employ lifeguards, and at peak the Royal National Lifeboat Institution rescues up to 400 people each week from Britain's waters. At a meeting last week, South West Tourism, the RNLI, local authorities and the National Trust, which owns many British beaches, agreed a better management service was needed to monitor and improve beach safety and cleanliness.
The RNLI says it could run the new service and fund most of the £20 million needed to put it in place.
Another solution it suggested was that beach car park profits should be used to fund the service, for both public and private beaches. Currently local authorities only fund those on public beaches. Many popular beaches are privately owned, so owners decide whether to pay for a lifeguard or not.
Ignorance of beach safety was also cited as a major problem, one which could be combated by public awareness campaigns and incorporating water safety into the National Curriculum.
The RNLI launched a safety-sign initiative this month. The new signs give clear, child-friendly information on local hazards and explain the often misunderstood beach safety flag system. They also feature a unique geographical reference number relating to its specific location to help coastguards find people.
