Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) is organising its first national water safety congress - 'Safe Management of Water Sites - The Risk Assessment Route' in response to a number of recent drownings.

RoSPA water and leisure manager Peter Cornall, said that sites with water features were in need of special attention in an attempt to curb deaths on domestic waters: The spate of drownings which coincided with the hot spells this summer underlined the need for people with responsibility for water sites to do all they can to make them safe.

Cornall added that the conference would be of particular interest to managers of water facilities in the leisure and tourism industry: The Society believes the drowning problem must be given greater priority by managers of water sites and swimming pools.