PENDLE Leisure Trust is working with Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service this month to deliver water safety information to Pendle primary schools.

Firefighters will visit all three of the trust’s leisure centres during the next few weeks to work with staff and swimming instructors to educate schoolchildren in vital water safety skills that will help keep them safe around open water.

They will spend a number of days at each centre in a bid to reach as many youngsters as possible, starting at West Craven Sports Centre in Barnoldswick last week, followed by Pendle Wavelengths in Nelson and then Pendle Leisure Centre in Colne in the last week in June.

In various hands-on sessions, schoolchildren will learn numerous life-saving skills, including CPR and swimming techniques. The fire brigade will demonstrate rescue techniques.

Pendle Leisure Trust’s swimming co-ordinator, Christine Britton, said: "We will be raising awareness of the importance of learning to swim; increasing knowledge of staying safe in and around water; providing an understanding of the actions to take in the event of discovering someone in difficulty in the water and basic first aid.

"As part of the initiative, we are working with the parents of 17-year-old James Goodship, who drowned in Foulridge Reservoir two years ago, to teach youngsters the importance of water safety, especially at this time of year, when it is tempting to cool off in a lake, river or reservoir."