POLICE have fired out a warning after youths were caught swimming in a lake at a business park last night.

St Helens PCSO's arrived at Alexandra Business Park, near Prescot Road yesterday evening (Friday, July 23), after receiving reports that youngsters were swimming in the lake.

The youths were given advice surrounding the dangers of swimming in these waters and moved on.

With the recent hot weather, there have been numerous incidents of young people swimming in unsafe waters around the region.

This has included the sad deaths of a 19-year-old in St. Annes, a 19-year-old in Salford, and a 20-year-old in Crosby, who all drowned after getting into difficulty swimming.

Police have been extra vigilant to these dangers and to the behaviour of young people this week, with it being the first national Anti-Social Behaviour (ASB) Awareness week.

Locally, this is part of a collaborative effort to tackle ASB across St Helens - something that has been on the rise in recent months.

Described as one of the police's "priorities", this has included educational school visits, quad bike patrols and high visibility presence in hot spot areas, as well as engaging with communities about issues affecting them.

Chief Superintendent for Local Policing, Zoe Thornton, said: "People deserve to feel safe where they live and our activities this week will highlight some of the work that we undertake on a daily basis to support our communities and tackle ASB."