YOUTHS are risking serious injury by scaling security fencing keeping the public out of Grange-over-Sands' decaying outdoor swimming pool to skateboard, the town's beat policeman has warned.

PC Colin Morris told members of Grange Town Council on Monday that youngsters are not only putting themselves in danger by using the derelict site but would also be difficult to reach if an accident should occur.

Fears over children using the site have been ongoing since last summer when officers attended numerous calls from concerned locals about the problem.

And clerk of the town council told members how he warned off a gang of eight youths who were using the pool to skateboard at the weekend.

"My concern is that these children were very young," he said.

But PC Morris explained that the problem was not a police issue, but rather a case of civil trespass.

South Lakeland District Council owns the Olympic-sized swimming pool built in the 1930s, which was a major attraction for visitors until under use and mounting repair bills led to it being closed in the early 1990s.

Since then it has been fenced off and locked up, although the security measures have failed to keep out youngsters.

"For us to keep going down there is a waste of resources," said PC Morris.

"Nothing stops the kids getting in because they are agile my concern is that if an accident should happen whether the emergency services would be able to get in there quick enough."

PC Morris suggested a "three strikes and you're out" system where children caught at the site three times would face prosecution for trespass by SLDC.

"We don't want a rubber ball syndrome where the problem keeps bouncing back," he added.

"We need to see an end result."

Town councillor Aidan Smith said increased signing around the site making clear the serious dangers posed by trespassing may help reinforce the message.

SLDC councillor for Grange, Bill Wearing, said he would discuss the problem with council officers.

The lido forms a pivotal part of the Time and Tide Project to breathe new life into the town's promenade and, under proposals that went out to public consultation, could be demolished to make way for a toilet and caf complex.

A spokesman for SLDC said the authority had taken numerous steps to keep trespassers out.

"The site is inspected regularly and health and safety assessments indicate that sufficient measures have been taken to secure the site," he told the Gazette.