Shrewsbury street pastors urge revellers to stay together after river deaths

Steve Jones said street pastors were working with other partners to improve river safety

Weekend revellers in Shrewsbury are being urged to stay together after several deaths in the River Severn.

Posters are to go up in clubs and bars urging groups to avoid getting separated and encouraging them to stay away from the river.

A safety review is being carried out by Shropshire Council after two men died earlier this year.

Street pastor Steve Jones said his team were working with 35 other groups to try and keep people safe.

"The situation unfortunately, particularly because of the two recent deaths, we don't know how they got separated and obviously what happens in those sort of situations," he said.

"We're very fortunate we live in a very beautiful town and we have the river going through it, but we really are again trying to make sure we can put in as much preventative stuff.

"Hopefully posters have gone up in all the toilets in all the venues to say stay together as a group that's the safest way to ensure you keep together and I think it's just continuing to get message out there.

"Please don't let somebody go out there on their own."

Nathan Fleetwood's body was found after a huge search involving hundreds of volunteers

Toby Jones, 31, and 21-year-old Nathan Fleetwood died within weeks of each other, while a third man, Dan Walker, 31, suffered severe injuries despite being rescued.

They are the latest in a long line of deaths, with the coroner urging action to prevent accidental drownings more than a decade ago.

Steve Jones said more recent suggestions to keep the river safe included installing ropes and ladders, although they also presented problems.

Street pastors are a group of volunteers, mainly from local churches, dedicated to keeping town centres a safe environment.

Mr Jones said the team had also recently encountered instances of people's drinks being spiked, adding to the dangers they faced on nights out.