Camber Sands deaths: Summer lifeguards plan 'on track'

31 January 2017

Plans for lifeguards at a beach where seven people drowned last summer are "on track", a council has said.

Rother District Council allocated £51,000 in its draft 2017-18 budget for lifeguard provision at Camber Sands in East Sussex.

A council committee has now recommended the funds be approved as part of the authority's budget setting next month.

The scheme would see RNLI lifeguards on the beach from Whitsun until the end of the school summer holidays.

The popular sandy beach can attract up to 25,000 people "on a fine day", according to the council.

'Never risk-free'

Among those who have demanded action are relatives of five young men who died during a day-trip to the beach last August.

Tony Leonard, district council executive director of business operations, said: "Safety at Camber is kept under constant review."

He said that prior to last summer, the beach always had a very good safety record.

But he added: "The beach is three miles long and up to 700m wide at low tide, therefore it can never be completely risk-free."

Full inquests into the deaths are awaited. Mr Leonard said the council would act on any recommendations the coroner might make.

A decision on whether to introduce the service will be put to a council vote on 27 February after being considered by its cabinet on 13 February.

About 25,000 people use the Sussex beach safely on a fine day, according to the Rother District Council

Five men from south-east London died on 24 August:

Two others also lost their lives in July:

Brazilian Gustavo Silva Da Cruz, 19, died after he got into difficulty on 24 July
Mohit Dupar, 36, from Hayes, west London, died in hospital four days later after trying to rescue him