DANGEROUS leaps into a Northumberland harbour will be officially logged as part of transport chiefs bid to make the practice illegal.
Fears have grown in recent years about young daredevils ‘tombstoning’ into the water in Amble Harbour, from the quay walls, the roof of an ice plant and other buildings.
Now harbour commissioners say they plan to record each incident in a bid to deter the dangerous pastime, which has already grown in popularity with the arrival of the warmer weather.
Harbour chiefs say there have been up to 50 jumpers at a time hurling themselves into the River Coquet, sparking fears of a tragedy with more younger leapers now joining in.
The move comes five months after the Warkworth Harbour Commissioners approached Northumberland County Council, asking for help to introduce a byelaw banning tombstoning.
Following talks involving council legal advisers and the local county councillor, it has now been agreed Commissioners will contact the Department for Transport to progress the possibility of introducing the proposed byelaw.
As a first step, all dangerous tombstoning incidents will be recorded by the harbourmaster and other officials this summer to gather evidence required to support the legislation.
Yesterday county councillor for Amble, Robert Arckless, said he had been involved in the recent discussions.
He said: “The commissioners’ view is this is a real problem worth investigating, and I’m inclined to agree with them. The major concerns are the numbers involved. On one weekend there were 50 people leaping into the harbour – and there have been some quite scary near misses involving craft using the harbour.
“It has been agreed that the commissioners will keep a log of incidents this summer to help establish a case that there is a need to do something.
“We have looked at the legal situation and it appears that the commissioners have powers themselves, under the Act that established them, to introduce a byelaw. They will now clarify the legal situation and explore work that has been done elsewhere to address concerns about tombstoning.”
Coun Arckless said the commission was sensitive to the view the move might be seen as an over-reaction, but that consideration had been overruled by genuine concerns about the public’s safety.
In 2009 17-year-old Jamie Sutton died after plunging from 30ft cliffs near Souter Lighthouse in Whitburn, South Tyneside. Three months ago Port of Dover police launched a DVD in a bid to deter local schoolchildren and young people from tombstoning. It features former soldier Sonny Wells, 23, who was left paralysed after leaping from a pier into 3ft of water in Hampshire in 2008.
