Emergency services issue warning after frozen lake walked on at Wellingborough hotspot

Emergency services have issued warnings about children playing on frozen bodies of water after incidents across Northamptonshire including at a Wellingborough hotspot.

Both Northamptonshire Police and Northamptonshire Fire & Rescue service have taken to social media recently to warn parents about the dangers and ask them to educate their children.

It comes after numerous reports of children playing on frozen lakes over the past few days due to the cold spell across the county that has seen temperatures drop well below freezing.

Northamptonshire Fire and Rescue Service (NFRS) posted a social media warning after a crew visited a pond in Wellingborough, known as a hotspot for children playing on frozen water. The crew saw that the pond had been walked on.

NFRS tweets: “Our duty crew at Wellingborough have again visited the pond at Kingsway to spread the word about staying safe around frozen water. They could see the ice had been walked on.

“Please don't walk or allow pets on the ice. Put dogs on leads and don't follow them onto the ice if they venture on to it.

“If someone falls in, don't go in after them, get them to grab hold of a stick or something that floats and encourage them to float on their back.”

Reports have been made of children playing on frozen water across the county, including at a fenced off pond in Towcester, Brackmills Country Park, Sywell Country Park and more.

Northamptonshire Police said on Twitter: “This morning (Tuesday January 24) we have again had reports of children playing on frozen lakes across the county.

“We cannot stress enough how dangerous this is.

“The ice can break at any second and the temperature of the water is cold enough to take your breath away.

“If you fall in, you can also easily get trapped underneath the ice and even the strongest adult swimmers would find it exceptionally difficult to surface.

“Every second on the ice is a second closer to a tragedy.

“We have all been children once and so we know how inviting it looks to play on, but please speak to your children, explain the dangers and ask them to stay away.

“If you do see a person or animal in trouble in icy water, stay on the bank and phone 999.”

This warning follows another from police over the weekend, which detailed an “increased amount of calls regarding children going on the ice at lakes”.

The cold spell is expected to continue as the Met Office has updated its cold weather alert and extended it to Friday (January 27).

A statement on the Met Office website says: “The change to milder conditions has been delayed once more… with cold and frosty conditions persisting. It will be dry although freezing fog will continue to be a hazard as well as some ice.”

According to NN Weather, parts of the county hit -9C on Tuesday (January 24) morning.

Both West and North Northamptonshire Council have extended Severe Weather Emergency Protocols (SWEP) until Wednesday (January 25).

West Northamptonshire Council has also had a fleet of gritters out across the area.