YouTube video thrill-seekers in tunnels of death

Clips on the YouTube video sharing site show youngsters climbing into vent tunnels for the main sewer that runs from Brighton to the Portobello sewage works at Telscombe Cliffs.

PC Dave Newman said the activity was incredibly dangerous and could lead to people being trapped or even drowned.

He said: 'It is so, so dangerous. There are all sorts of bits falling down and holes. If someone got trapped there we would never know.

'We have contacted Southern Water and they are going to do immediate emergency repair works.'

PC Newman urged people not to try to enter the sewers and to make sure they warned their children of the dangers.

In one of the videos a father walks with his young daughter through the chalk tunnels which are accessed from the beach a short way up the cliff face

He can be heard reassuring her there are no bears or monsters. At one point he asks her if she can hear the flowing water from the sewer.

In another clip, teenage boys are seen climbing up the cliff into the 'cave' and through a broken metal fence into the sewer.

A spokesman for Southern Water said: 'Climbing within sewers is extremely dangerous.

'If it were to start raining the sewers can fill up very quickly without warning and those in the sewer could find themselves trapped very quickly.

'These young men also entered a deep sewer which was clearly carrying human waste which can pose serious health risks such as e-coli.

'Our operators wear full protective clothing and have extensive training before entering sewers because of the risk to health and also the physical dangers.

'We are taking this incident very seriously and doing everything we can to work with the police to prevent this happening again. We would remind young people that these are unsafe environments which carry human waste.'

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