Schoolchildren and businesses are set to be warned of the dangers of swimming in a village weir following a spate of “near misses”.

The area close to Teapot Island and The Lees, in Yalding, attracts many visitors in the summer months and families are often found paddling in the shallow river water between the sluice gates and the bridge.

Several people have been close to drowning and have needed to be rescued after ignoring the “danger”, “keep out” and “no swimming” signs.

Kent Fire and Rescue Service’s community safety team will be distributing family-focussed safety advice to schools in the area and visiting businesses to encourage them to help raise awareness of the risks.

"Please make sure you and your family stay safe from this danger by keeping out of the water and the weir pool" - Rob Groombridge

The activity is part of the coordinated efforts by a newly formed Yalding Water Safety Group. This made up of KFRS, the Environment Agency (EA), Yalding Parish Council, the village PCSO and Kent County Council community wardens.

To help prevent people accessing the water the EA has recently installed a new security gate by the weir pool and fitted additional rows of handrail on existing fencing to fill in where there are gaps.

Yalding Parish Council is also in the process of putting up a fence, gates and signage at the top of the slipway on the Lees car park to make people more aware of the danger of entering the weir pool and to hopefully prevent small children running off on their own.

KFRS community safety delivery manager Rob Groombridge said: “Please make sure you and your family stay safe from this danger by keeping out of the water and the weir pool.

“Make sure your visitors know about the dangers too. Ahead of the warmer months, take time to familiarise yourself with further water safety advice."

For more information about staying safe in the water visit www.kent.fire-uk.org/watersafety