SAFETY campaigners last night warned against the dangers of swimming after the death of a five-year-old boy who was swept out to sea.

Police said Lewis Ashley was plucked unconscious from the water in Northumberland but died later in hospital.

Attempts were made by the emergency services to revive him on the beach as shocked holidaymakers looked on.

Lewis, of Waverley Place, Newbiggin-by-the Sea, was playing on rocks with friends when he slipped and fell into the water at about 6pm on Wednesday.

Coastguard Mike Bradley said Lewis was pulled unconscious from the water ten yards from the shore and the lifeboat doctor tried to resuscitate him on board.

The lifeboat was run on to the beach where attempts to revive him continued.

Mr Bradley said: ''It was a lovely, fine day. When you live by the sea, the rocks, the water and the sand are your playground, but it is a very dangerous one.

''Everybody in Newbiggin is shocked. He was a popular little boy. It has affected everybody quite badly."

A police inquiry has been launched but Northumbria Police said there did not appear to be any suspicious circumstances.

Last night, RoSPA issued warnings to people tempted to take a cool dip in rivers, swimming pools, lakes and the sea, whether at home or abroad.

The school holidays start in many areas this weekend and the society is worried that there will be more tragedies.

More than 400 people die in accidental drownings in the UK each year, while another 60 Britons are drowned abroad.

A 22-year-old man from Crook, County Durham, drowned while swimming in Greenfoot Quarry, Stanhope, on July 7, 11 days after a 12-year-old Ferryhill boy died in the River Wear at Sunderland Bridge, near Durham.