FRIENDS of a teenager who lost her life in a double river tragedy have helped to issue a warning over the dangers of swimming in open water.

The emotional message has been released two years after Chloe Fowler, 14, and 15-year-old Toni-Beth Purvis, died after getting into difficulties in the River Wear, at Fatfield, Washington.

Classmates from Chloe’s school, Oxclose Community Academy, in Washington, have helped Sunderland City Council to put together a DVD, promoting water safety.

The release, via social media, is part of a wider council campaign reminding people of the hazards, often unseen, of rivers and other stretches of open water.

Its issue has also been timed to coincide with the RNLI’s Respect the Water summer campaign, and the onset of the council’s annual water safety programme, which returns to schools in the forthcoming autumn term.

The council is working with the RNLI on joint water safety campaigns to raise awareness of the dangers in and around water safety and promote important safety messages echoing those of the Oxclose students in the DVD footage.

This includes staff and volunteers at the council’s mobile XL Youth Villages providing advice and information at locations along the riverside where young people are known to congregate and often enter the water.

Its latest XL session will be one of those closest to the River Wear, by the jetty at Claxheugh Rock, at South Hylton, Sunderland, between 1.30pm and 3.30pm tomorrow (Thursday August 27).

Councillor John Kelly, council cabinet member for public health, wellness and culture, said: “Rivers and waterways can look inviting, particularly in the warm weather, but the tragic deaths of these young girls is a stark reminder of how easy it is to get into difficulty in the water.

“Drowning is the third highest accidental cause of death in young people in the UK, so it's really important that young people, their parents, grandparents and the wider community are aware of the dangers.”

Coun Kelly urged people to ask themselves: “Is it safe?” before venturing into the water.

In the last year more than 12,000 youngsters across the council area have been taught important water advice on special roadshow visits to primary schools.

As well as the DVD and the annual water safety programme in schools, the council has erected temporary posters, warning: ‘Open water can kill’, at known hotspots.