Wild swimmers defy pleas and protest in prohibited area
BBCA large group of wild swimmers have staged a protest and ignored warnings prohibiting them from swimming in a "dangerous" reservoir.
About 100 people descended on Chew Valley Lake in Somerset on Sunday morning for a swim trespass event, organised by the Outdoor Swimming Society.
The reservoir is an active and operational site, owned by Bristol Water. It is also a special protection area, a site of special scientific interest and a site of nature conservation importance.
A spokesperson for Bristol Water said: "We recognise the right to protest peacefully, however we need to stress the reason we don't allow swimming at our reservoirs and lakes is because it is very dangerous."
"Our reservoirs are active operational sites supplying water to our region. They contain deep, cold water and hidden hazards like strong currents below the surface," they added.
Kate Rew, the organiser of the protest, said the group wants to achieve the right to swim in reservoirs across the country.
"We think we have the moral and potentially the legal right to swim and we want to exercise that.
"To gain and maintain the right to swim we need to do more swimming.
"I don't believe that such vast areas of the country should be held away from us and I think water authorities possibly do have the legal duty to make their sites available for recreation," she said.
Johnny Palmer is a campaigner who previously led a successful campaign to allow swimming in Bristol Harbour.
He said: "We're not supposed to be here because technically we're trespassing… we just hope Bristol Water get onboard and support us in setting up a swimming club here.
"We're not hurting anyone, we're not hurting each other and we're benefitting our communities and ourselves."
At the start of the protest, a ranger from the company issued a final warning to the group and reminded them of the risks of strong currents, cold water shock, drowning, naturally occurring pathogens, parasites and harmful algae in the lake.
The company also has underwater apparatus at the site.
Although the swimmers listened to the plea, they still swam and said they believed the physical and mental health benefits outweighed the risks associated with the activity.
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