Eastbourne man calls for lifebelts to be installed near stream before a ‘tragedy’ occurs

An Eastbourne man has called for lifebelts to be installed by a stream that children and dog walkers enjoy.

Peter Kitcher said he worries what could happen if a child fell into Horsey Sewer.

The stream runs from Courtlands Road until it connects with Crumble Sewer by St Anthony’s Avenue.

Mr Kitcher said, “The banks up that river are extremely high. If someone goes in there it will be hard for them to get out.”

The St Phillips Place resident said he has spoken to dog walkers who enjoy the stream and heard how one of their pets had fallen down the bank in the past.

Mr Kitcher said, “If a kid falls in there it could be a tragedy to be honest.”

In relation to potential vandalism that lifebelts could attract, Mr Kitcher explained that they could be put in coded cabinets - similarly to defibrillators.

The Eastbourne man said he has been campaigning for lifebelts to be included along the stream since 2019.

He added, “It is something I think needs to be made aware of because there’s no fencing there.

“There are kids that play there that live around there.”

Mr Kitcher said he has contacted the Environment Agency about the issue.

An Eastbourne Borough Council spokesperson said, “The Horsey Sewer stretch referred to is classified as an Environment Agency statutory main river. This means that the Environment Agency has permissive powers to carry out maintenance, improvement or construction work on designated main rivers.

“Water safety is very important to Eastbourne Borough Council and we will liaise with the Environment Agency about water safety in this area.”

An Environment Agency spokesperson added, “We take water safety extremely seriously and carry out public safety risk assessments on all our assets and install and maintain public safety control measures where reasonably practical.

“We will be looking into this further to see if safety along the Horsey Sewer could be improved.”

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