A SCHEME to introduce an array of riverbank safety measures is nearing completion, following the deaths of three young people.

City of York Council said it was set to install the final fences and grab rails alongside the River Ouse and that council it had replaced 49 life rings on the rivers Ouse and Foss with modern models.

As part of a £100,000 safety scheme, launched after Megan Roberts, 20, Ben Clarkson, 22 and Tyler Pearson, 18, died in the rivers last year, safety notices have been refreshed, while every child in the city is set to be taught about the dangers of rivers.

Miss Roberts' mother, Jackie, an ambassador with the Royal Life Saving Society UK, welcomed the move to introduce fencing and said the charity was stepping up its focus on student safety following six river deaths in York and Durham.

She said: "That something’s been done is a good thing and it’s good to think it might help someone in the future."

Durham's City Safety Group, which has commissioned the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents to assess riverside safety following the deaths of three students in the River Wear since October 2013, will consider whether to introduce measures next month.

Its chair, Terry Collins, has said while it is examining a range of changes and improvements in city safety, none would replace the need for people to take responsibility for how much they drink.

Students have questioned whether educating students about the dangers of alcohol and other measures to avert drownings in Durham would be effective without measures such as installing fencing alongside the river.

In York, to further drive home the importance of river safety among young people, a resource pack for schools has been launched this week, to build an early understanding of the risks of open water.

Councillor Tracey Simpson-Laing, the council's cabinet member for communities, said: “Promoting personal responsibility in tandem with furthering river safety measures has long been our approach and this new work updates and builds on that.”

John Tomsett, headteacher of Huntington School, in York, who pulled a drowning man out of the frozen River Ouse in December 2010, said: “It takes seconds for the cold water to drag you under.

"It is so important that youngsters act sensibly near water and understand its dangers."