TWO primary school youngsters are helping to raise awareness that swimming in reservoirs is dangerous.

Edward Brass and Joe Allison are pupils at Osmotherley Primary School. They designed the hard-hitting posters which have now been sited at nearby Cod Beck reservoir.

In the past 18 months the reservoir has claimed the lives of two people who decided to go swimming.

Yorkshire Water held the competition with schools across the region, asking pupils to design posters aimed at getting their message across.

More than 800 youngsters took part and Edward and Joe's entries caught the attention of judges as the designs effectively demonstrated the warning.

Yorkshire Water's health and safety manager Nikki Kemmery said: "Every year, we issue warnings telling people not to swim in our reservoirs as they are extremely dangerous.

"Sadly, on hot days the temptation to take a dip in the inviting waters is too much for some and they go ahead - often with fatal consequences, as seen at Cod Beck.

"This year, we decided to get schoolchildren involved and asked them to design a poster that would make people think twice before going for a swim in a reservoir.

"While reservoirs look like a perfect source to cool off in, they are in fact deep, extremely cold and can have strong undercurrents."