People who are swimming in a reservoir near Grantham to cool off in the heat are risking their lives.
That is the warning given by Jeff Mawhood, Honorary Secretary of Grantham Angling Association, who describes people jumping and swimming in Denton Reservoir as “idiots” for taking such a risk.
And Mr Mawhood said that on Thursday evening last week he saw a man get into difficulties in the cold water and he had to be pulled out by his friends.
Mr Mawhood said: “This is a 23-acre lake. The water is crystal clear and ice cold. There was a chap in there the other night and if it had not been for his friends pulling him out it could have been a tragedy. Somebody is going to end up drowning in there.
“These people are idiots and they are going to kill themselves.”
People are jumping off the concrete wall at one end of the reservoir and “bombing” into the water. Mr Mawhood said there was a lot of concrete and rocks at the bottom of the reservoir which is not deep and people risked injury.
“If they jump in there and hit one of those big lumps of concrete they will break a leg. There is only five or six feet of water.”
Families with young children as young as 18 months have been seen in the water and people have been taking small boats and rubber dinghies out on to the reservoir which is banned.
Mr Mawhood is also furious that a number of ‘no swimming’ signs put up last week were then ripped up. A number of other signs, including no littering signs, produced by the Angling Trust, have also been vandalised.
He said: “The litter people leave around here is unbelievable. I have just ordered a lot more signs but it will be a week before they arrive.”
The reservoir is popular with anglers but many have been frustrated by swimmers who are jumping in nearby and disturbing them.
The water is home to carp, tench and bream. Some of the carp weigh up to 40lb.