Lakeside Horror

Sunday's accident happened almost a year to the day after the tragedy in which two-year-old Alexander Clark drowned in the lake.

He had walked out, unnoticed, from a mums' and toddlers' gym session at the nearby sports centre.

Experts called in by Arun District Council recommended a package of safety measures, including a dense barrier of shrubs round the lake and repairs to the crumbling concrete edge.

But the family of 18-month-old Jemma Lecuyer, who was strapped into the pushchair when it toppled into the lake, were amazed to learn this week that work on the improvements will not even start until October.

And their amazement turned to anger when they discovered that repairs to the lake's edge were described by one Arun officer as "top priority" almost two years ago, and had been suggested for a 50,000 lottery bid four years ago.

Jemma's father Daniel told the Gazette: "If it was top priority two years ago, and the edge of the lake has got even worse since then, it's incredible that nothing has been done.

"Two years ago a child slipped on the edge of the lake and was hurt, then last year there was the tragic drowning and now our daughter's accident, but when I met two Arun officers they said the state of the edge was not bad enough to make it an urgent job."

Mr Lecuyer, his wife Joanna, their son Samuel, four and Jemma had gone for a stroll in the park from their home in Meadow Way, Littlehampton, on Sunday afternoon.

While the couple and Samuel went to the water's edge to feed the ducks, they left Jemma a few feet away in her pushchair, at the top of a grassy bank, but on the level.

Although the pushchair's brake was on, Mr Lecuyer thinks the toddler may have leaned forward, jolting the pushchair, which slid down the slope, hit the concrete edge and fell forwards into the lake, with Jemma still strapped in.

"The buggy sank, with just half of a wheel out of the water. Luckily she was strapped in, or we might not have got her out in time. There were two coats and a handbag on the pushchair making it heavier, but I just grabbed it and dragged it out.

"She was under the water for only a few seconds but it seemed like an eternity. When she came out she was covered in weed and screaming. It was terrifying."

Arun commissioned safety group, RoSPA, to carry out a study of all the district's water features following the drowning of Alexander Clark on June 21 last year.

Extra precautions have already been brought in at the Sportsdome, from where Alexander walked out during the gym session. But the council confirmed this week that other measures affecting the lake would not go ahead until this autumn.

For the full story, see the Gazette, June 20.