Concerned local residents this week urged parents to warn their children of the serious dangers of diving into Watchet harbour from the lighthouse pierhead.

They say that jumping from the town’s west pier – known as “tombstoning” – has been on the increase during the recent hot weather but claim that the authorities seem powerless to control the situation.

Vicki Nash, who regularly visits the harbour from her home in West Quantoxhead, said: “I was very disturbed by what the youngsters were doing and would certainly try to stop my grandchildren from taking risks like that.

“This week I saw about a dozen youngsters around the lighthouse and six were diving in, encouraged by their friends. It was a game to them but it looked a very dangerous one. They were showing off and daring each other.”

“I was very concerned and spoke to someone at the district council who said he would pass on my concerns because he felt that children should not be taking such risks. I was told that the police were not interested in becoming involved and that the assistant harbourmaster was based in Minehead.

“I also spoke to the marina but was told they were not responsible for the outer harbour. I got the impression that no-one wanted to know.”

A spokesman for Somerset West and Taunton Council said it was actively trying to discourage tombstoning, which is not only dangerous but increases the risk of emergency services having to respond to avoidable accidents.

A Watchet Boat Owners’ Association (WBOA) spokesman said: “We have continually warned of the problems of tombstoning at the harbour entrance but, despite the district council having a statutory duty of care, nothing has yet been done to effectively stop youngsters putting themselves in danger.

“We appreciate that there are difficulties in monitoring and controlling the area, but there have been serious accidents here in the past and are likely to be more if some solution isn’t found.”

Watchet Coastguard has regularly appealed to parents to check where their youngsters are – “especially if they are heading towards the harbour with swimming gear”.

Watchet district councillor Loretta Whetlor, who is also a member of Watchet Harbour Board and Watchet Harbour Advisory Committee,said that harbour-jumping was a perennial problem that the council was actively trying to discourage.

For the full report, see today’s Free Press.