Shrewsbury street pastors hailed for fall in River Severn deaths
Street pastors have been commended after no river deaths were recorded within the Shrewsbury loop of the River Severn in almost two years.
The fall in drowning incidents has coincided with the arrival of the Shrewsbury Street Pastors in November 2011.
They have been commended by Shropshire's fire chief as having made an "immense" contribution to the town's river safety campaign. Before the volunteer group took to the streets, there had been 29 deaths in the River Severn over the seven years since 2004.
Shropshire's coroner Mr John Ellery spoke out on the issue in 2010 after a spate of river deaths and raised concerns about youths being exposed to too many offers on alcohol. In recent year's four young men have become victims of the river.
The figures from Shropshire Fire & Rescue Service also show that there have been 68 river rescues between 2009 and 2013, but just seven incidents since January.
The fire service has now teamed up with the street pastors to provide specialist lifesaving training on how to safely rescue people.
Chief Fire Officer John Redmond said: "The contribution from street pastors to community safety in the past 12 months has been immense.
"Our firefighters are pleased to help with their request to improve their water safety skills."
Ian Horne, the town's street pastor coordinator, said: "One of the main reasons why we were set up was to try and help reduce the number of river deaths in Shrewsbury town centre by identifying vulnerable people walking on their own."
