COVER it, fence it or, even better, fill it, is advice being given to friends and families with children under the age of six in relation to garden ponds.

The advice, offered by safety and accident prevention charity, RoSPA, is aimed at preventing childhood drowning and the message is being made as the region enjoys its first period of warm weather this year.

RoSPA hopes that all those who have young children visiting their gardens will think about taking steps to separate children from water.

David Walker, leisure safety manager at RoSPA, said: “Children under six are most vulnerable to drowning in the home and garden as they are naturally inquisitive and drawn to water, and at this age cannot get themselves out of trouble if they fall in.

“Once they reach the age of six this vulnerability disappears, so any changes to garden ponds need only be temporary.

“RoSPA recommends, as the best solution, filling in the pond and removing the risk entirely. Some families create sandpits, and we’d love to hear what others have chosen to do. At the very least, ponds should be fenced off securely or covered with a rigid grille to prevent children getting to the water without an adult’s help.

“Remember, it only takes seconds for a child to escape attention, make their way to the water and tragedy to strike.”

Good supervision of young children around water is crucial in preventing accidents. Drowning can happen quickly and quietly so RoSPA also advises that water features, such as ponds, water butts and pools, are checked first if a young child does escape attention.

On average five children under the age of six die every year from drowning after falling into a garden pond, many after escaping supervision for just a few seconds. There is also an unknown number who have life-changing injuries.

Although many parents take action to remove the risk of ponds from their own homes, these accidents also happen in the gardens of those related to, or friends of, the children who die.