The Christmas Day swim on Brighton beach, a tradition for 150 years, is cancelled over health and safety fears.
A traditional Christmas Day swim on Brighton beach has been cancelled over health and safety fears, following increasing levels of drunkenness in recent years.
In the past, the “Santa swim” has been called off due to particularly harsh weather conditions or high tides.
This year, however, Brighton and Hove city council has taken the decision to cancel the event regardless of sea conditions, after growing increasingly concerned for the safety of members of the public, many of them in fancy dress, who join seasoned swimmers for the annual dip.
The council said it would be closing parts of the beach on Dec 25 to deter people from taking part.
Health and safety officials fear a repeat of an incident in October, when a swimmer had to be rescued after getting into difficulty near the pier.
They also cited the death of a Hastings woman who died during a Christmas Day swim in 2012.
rokur
Production engineer and certified swim coach. Full-time IT consultant, spare-time swimming aficionado. 2 sons, 2 daughters and a wife. President of the Faroe Islands Swimming Association. Likes to run :-)