COUNCIL officials are investigating an incident in which a seven-year-old girl was stuck underwater at Canvey’s Waterside Farm swimming pool, when her hair was sucked into a vent. Reporter PAUL OFFORD put on his trunks and went swimming at Waterside Farm and Castle Point’s other public pool, Runnymede, off Kiln Road, Thundersley, to assess how safe they are.

GRAVE questions are being asked about safety standards at Castle Point’s council-owned swimming pools.

Two lifeguards have been suspended pending an investigation by Castle Point Council into how Natea Dackombe, seven, came to be trapped under the water at Waterside Farm.

A week after Natea’s accident, I swam for 40-minutes at each of the council’s pools and was broadly satisfied with what I saw – though a few things did worry me.

First I visited Waterside Farm, where a sign at reception stipulates all children under four must be accompanied by an adult. It adds people aged 16-plus are allowed to accompany two children aged between four and eight.

There are no restrictions for swimmers aged eight and over.

I paid the £4.20 admission fee at 10am and headed for the pool.

Once in the water, the first thing I checked was the suction vent where trapped Natea, of Starling Close, Thundersley, got stuck. It is a hole the size of a bath plug and is on the changing rooms side of the main pool.

The suction seemed to be switched off and I found no other suction vents in the pool.

One thing which concerned me, however, was the lack of signs around the pool itself to remind swimmers children had to be supervised by an adult while in the pool.

One dad, who did not give his name, spoke to me in the changing rooms after taking his children for a swim. He said: “They don’t have signs up around the pool letting you know children have to stay with a grown up. The only reason I know is because my wife told me.”

There were the usual notices telling people not to dive, bomb, run around the pool – even one rather old-fashioned sign stating, “No Petting”.

To further improve safety, Dave Blackwell, leader of the Canvey Independent Party group on Castle Point Council, thinks all children should be made to wear swimming hats, so their hair can’t get caught up.

He explained: “The vent which caught the little girl has always had really strong suction.

“It’s strong enough to suck in your bum if you’re near it. If all the children had to wear hats, this wouldn’t have happened.”

It is not compulsory to wear a cap at the moment and only four of the nine young girls in the pool while I was there had them on.

They were, however, all accompanied by the appropriate number of adults.

Four lifeguards were keeping watch on the main pool and the smaller training pool when I first lowered myself into the water. Two of them left a few minutes later, though the remaining lifeguards did seem to be paying close attention.

Mum Francesca Smiles, 29, of Rainbow Road, Canvey, regularly takes her three-year-old daughter swimming at Waterside Farm.

She said: “I have to say the lifeguards have been very good in my experience. I feel really sorry for the ones who have been suspended.

“I was down there when I think they must have been told the bad news. They looked really upset.”

I towelled off at Waterside Farm and headed for the Runnymede pool, where a further £4.20 got me back in the water.

Two life guards were on duty, one on a high chair and the other standing by the junior pool.

It worried me slightly that two young girls – they might or might not have been eight – were allowed to spend five minutes swimming around in the deep end without adult supervision, before the start of a swimming lesson.

However, on the whole, the lifeguards kept their eyes on the pool throughout my time in there.

The only underwater vent I spotted was at the bottom of the deep end and this was definitely not sucking in water. The other vents were in a trough around the edge of the pool.

Tina Patmore, 36, lives on Canvey but will only let her seven-year-old and five-year-old swim at Runnymede.

She explained: “They are very good at Runnymede. The swimming instructor there stays with them all the time during lessons. They are never allowed to swim off.”

Karen Oliver, 34, from Rayleigh, regularly takes her seven-year-old and four-year-old to the Thundersley pool. She said: “You can read the rules for children at reception, but they don’t actually tell you them.

“However, I have to say the lifeguards are very good here.

“I also make sure my little girl, who has long hair, always wears a swim hat, so her hair can’t get caught in anything.”

*Castle Point Council chief executive David Marchant welcomed the Echo’s initiative.

He said: “We are pleased to hear Paul Offord’s positive comments about the pools and have noted the areas where he has raised concern.

“Our investigation into the Waterside incident is still under way, but we take safety in our pools very seriously and will always take whatever action is necessary to keep swimmers safe.

“However, we cannot emphasise enough the importance of adults supervising young people in their care.”