CLINGING on by their fingertips before plummeting 15ft into icy waters below, these teenagers have been warned they are dicing with death.

Witnesses have described seeing teenagers running through traffic before launching themselves off a wall and into Pendle Water, Barrowford.

Police said they had stepped up patrols in the area and at two other ‘trouble hotspots’ nearby where they fear young people were in grave danger.

Politicians, accident chiefs and police all warned of the hidden dangers lurking beneath the water which is said to be just four feet deep.

Angela White, manager of Pendle Heritage Centre in Park Hill said: “We’ve seen teenagers running through the traffic on Gisburn Road so they can take a run up over the wall.

“They are taking their lives in their hands. It’s a busy road and they’ve been running between cars to take a flying leap.

“It’s crazy. They don’t seem to use their common sense. I’m very surprised there hasn’t been an accident yet.”

Iain Lord, parish clerk at Barrowford Council, said councillors had reported the problems to police many times.

He said: “It’s an incredible drop into so little water.

“I’m concerned with the summer holidays coming up that it’s only going to get worse.

“Unless there’s someone down there all the time, then they’re not going to stop, but the police simply can’t do that.”

Nelson Police said they had targeted two other jumping points in Barrowford - the footbridge over the Leeds and Liverpool Canal off Colne Road and the point where Colne Water and Pendle Water rivers meet, off Wilton Street.

Sgt Shaun Pearson, who is in charge of neighbourhood policing in Nelson, said: “We’ve had numerous calls from people concerned about people jumping in the water.

“It’s very, very dangerous. Late last year we pulled half a Land Rover out of the canal which was hidden under the surface.

“It would be very nasty if someone were to land on something like that under the water.

“We’re patrolling the hotspots more and moving people on just to prevent people hurting themselves.

“It’s not really an anti-social behaviour problem, it’s just because of the dangers.

“It’s a drain on our resources because when we have to send officers over to disperse people doing this, we have to take them away from elsewhere in Nelson.”

It comes after, last week, the Lancashire Telegraph reported how young men were plunging into the canal in the Infirmary area of Blackburn and up to 200 people had been seen sunbathing and diving off rock faces into the 10-metre deep water, known as the Blue Lagoon in Haslingden.

Across the UK, there has been a string of water-related deaths since the start of the hot weather, at a rate of more than one a day.

This week alone, a 41-year-old man and a 16-year-old boy died in separate incidents at Bawsey Pits, near King's Lynn, Norfolk.

A 21-year-old man from Shropshire drowned in a river near Chirk, North Wales, and 14 and 15-year-old girls drowned in Washington, Tyne and Wear.

David Walker, leisure safety manager at the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA), said: "We understand the temptation to want to go swimming at inland water sites, such as canals and rivers, especially during hot weather.

“But even on a hot day, the water might be a lot colder or deeper than you were expecting.

“There may be underwater debris that you cannot see from the bank. Don’t go alone. Consider how you are going to get out of the water before you get in, and be honest about your swimming ability.

“The water in canals can be particularly murky, making it even more difficult to see the depth or underwater debris.

"RoSPA's advice is to go swimming at properly-supervised sites, such as beaches, lidos or swimming pools, although we appreciate that not everyone can get to these locations."

Jack Spees, director of the Ribble Rivers Trust, which monitors ecology in Ribble catchment areas, said: “We really want people to enjoy the waterways, while being responsible and conscientious towards wildlife. Otters and water voles are a protected species which live in our area. By jumping in, you can disrupt their habitat.”