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Wristbands will help keep beach kids safe
WRISTBANDS are being given out to families on the shores of South Shields to keep children safe.
RNLI lifeguards, who are patrolling Sandhaven for the first time this year, as well as Seaburn and Roker in Sunderland, have already dealt with more than 76 cases of lost children on the three beaches this year.
Visitors are being encouraged to take advantage of a wristband scheme operated by HM Coastguard and the RNLI lifeguards, who say reuniting lost children with their parents is a common task.
The brightly-coloured wristbands are easily attached and feature space for parents to write their phone number.
They are available for collection at any of the RNLI lifeguard units along the beaches.
Greg Albrighton, Tyne sector manager for the Coastguard, said the wristbands are a simple way of tackling the significant problem of missing children.
He said: "The wristbands don't stop children wandering off, of course, but what they do is save parents that horrible dread which comes when you realise your child is nowhere in sight.
"We refer to these incidents as lost children, but because we have found the child, what we are actually dealing with is missing parents, so if the child has a wristband on we can reunite them fairly swiftly."
RNLI lifeguard supervisor Ross Lambert said: "So far this season, we have dealt with more than 76 cases of lost children on the three beaches and we urge parents to take advantage of the wristbands."
Sandhaven became the first beach in North East England to operate the charity's lifeguard services this summer, after South Tyneside Council agreed to hand over responsibility for the seasonal lifeguard service to the charity.
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Weather for Preston
Tuesday 07 February 2012
Today
Sunny spells
Temperature: -5 C to 5 C
Wind Speed: 9 mph
Wind direction: South east
Tomorrow
Sunny
Temperature: -3 C to 1 C
Wind Speed: 14 mph
Wind direction: South east
