ACCIDENT prevention charities have joined police in issuing warnings over plans for thousands of people to float on inflatables down the River Tyne while drinking beer.

The event, publicised on Facebook as the River Tyne Booze Cruise, is planned for July 1, starting in Newburn, Newcastle, and ending three-and-a-half hours later on the Quayside.

The Royal Life Saving Society, warned of the dangers of drinking alcohol on and near water.

The drowning prevention charity’s spokesman Lee Heard said: “Fast-flowing water can pose substantial risk for many reasons, one of which being its unpredictability. Adding alcohol into the situation can result in a deadly cocktail. Drinking slows your reactions or limits your ability to react to an emergency.”

Figures from the National Water Safety Forum Water Incident Database show between 2012 and 2014, 38 per cent of 18 to 21-year-old accidental drowning victims had alcohol in their bloodstream. In 2015, this increased to 67 per cent.

David Walker, leisure safety manager with the Royal Society for Prevention of Accidents, said: “A sense of adventure and fun is fine, however UK waters such as the River Tyne can be fast flowing, cold and if you are immersed in it can be very dangerous. Similar events in other countries have typically been in more benign waters and have had high levels of safety support.”

Organisers insisted the idea was not a hoax and said it was based on a Finnish event.

The Facebook post, shared almost 10,000 times, includes the message: “1 rule: Stay in your craft at all times to eliminate accidents. Armbands / life jackets highly recommended.”

Northumbria Police said they were concerned about safety and would speak to the organisers.

A force spokesman said: “A rubber dinghy is not an appropriate vessel to be used on this river and if people were to fall overboard then they could find themselves in real danger.”