Shropshire river safety review to consider improvements after deaths

The majority of the river deaths over the last 20 years have happened in Shrewsbury

A review of river safety in Shropshire, following a number of deaths, will consider whether more needs to be done to reduce the number of accidents.

It will be the first review of its kind since 2010 and a report to Shropshire Council noted there had been 41 river deaths in the county since 2002.

Most of those have occurred in the Shrewsbury area.

Safety measures and strategies are already in place, the council said, but they might need to be updated.

The new review has been funded jointly by Shropshire Council and Shrewsbury Town Council and an interim report is due to be presented on 8 June.

It was commissioned following the recent deaths of Toby Jones, 31, and 21-year-old Nathan Fleetwood, as well as the rescue of a third man, Dan Walker.

The report to Shropshire councillors, setting out the scope of the review, noted there had been a "strong community response" to those deaths.

It also said the comparatively high frequency of incidents in Shrewsbury, compared with other areas, could be at least partly explained by the river passing through the centre of town, near a number of pubs and bars.

It said most of the deaths involved younger people, with about three quarters of them male, and many of the deaths happened at weekends.

Alcohol safety awareness could form part of the response it suggested, along with physical measures and greater awareness encouraged of the dangers of the river itself.

The new review will consider how the town has changed since the 2010 review.

It said a number of things would have to be taken into account, including "changes to the riverbank, as well as to the town's relationship with the river, such as new developments, changes of land use".