Lincolnshire Police issue safety advice for families to help keep children safe

If families are heading to the coast as temperatures are set to get hotter, families are advised to never leave children unattended, and young children should never be left unattended in or near water.

You should stay within the safe areas as marked by flags from the coast guard and the RNLI if you are visiting a lifeguarded beach.

Parents and cares can also make use of the Sandi Starfish scheme, a brightly coloured wristband that is recognisable by the emergency services and local businesses.

These wristbands are free and are a valuable tool in assisting emergency services in educating families of young children and vulnerable adults across our busy beaches, helping them to keep safe.

They can be collected from all coastal police stations, all RNLI watchtowers and numerous venues across the coastline that display the Sandi Starfish wristband posters.

This advice is being issued after reports of two young children, aged six and seven, going missing in Skegness yesterday (Thursday).

On this occasion, both childrenwere thankfully found safe and well, but it was an urgent reminder of how tragic it could have turned out to be.

Coast Neighbourhood Policing Team Inspector Jacky Evans said: “We welcome all visitors to the coast, and we want everyone to have a good time.

"Saying that, we would like to remind parents and carers to be mindful of their children as well as their own safety when enjoying the beach over the summer months.

“We know how distressing it can be for parents and families involved with reports of missing children and vulnerable adults.

“We work closely with the partners such as the HM Coastguard, the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) and the East Lindsey District Council to make sure our beaches are the safest places they can be this summer.”

Tom Sharp, HM Coastguard Duty Coastal Officer for Lincolnshire, said: “We want to see our kids enjoying our coasts, it’s the summer holidays and it should be all about fun and creating the memories you will have for life.

“We want those memories to be happy and joyful, but that can only happen if people treat our coasts with respect.

“Yesterday’s incident is a good reminder of how easily children can become separated from their parents, busy beaches can disorient people and it is easy to get lost.

“We advise parents to have an agreed meeting point with kids in case, staying close and remaining alert and using the wristband scheme Sandi Starfish.”