A MOTHER whose son drowned is urging people to put pressure on a local authority to reinstate lifeguards on a dangerous stretch of beach.

June Wharam lost her eight-year-old son Jordan Moon at Seaton Carew, near Hartlepool, when he was swept out to sea by a freak wave in August.

She said he would still be alive today if lifeguards and red danger flags had not been discontinued by Hartlepool council in 2001 to cut costs.

Members are meeting this week to discuss whether they should be reinstated at a cost of £50,000.

Mrs Wharam, 48, of Hartlepool, said: "This is not about looking at the costs of it - it is a matter of public safety.

"I live in Hartlepool and I didn't know it was dangerous otherwise we wouldn't have been there."

She urged people to add their names to petitions being circulated in the town. More than 4,200 people have signed in support of better safety.

A council survey in May revealed 225 out of 250 people backed the return of the lifeguards.

She expects they will return to Seaton Carew but the funding for the scheme will still need to be found before the service can be introduced next summer.

Mrs Wharam said: "It is a shame that it takes something like this for anything to happen but it is important that it does."

She is still coming to terms with Jordan's death but was comforted recently when children from his school gave her a book of their memories of him.