Ref.10507WEILS'S disease victim Martin Dacre has warned that dozens of youngsters swimming in the River Avon are dicing with death.

Mr Dacre says the children risk injury, disease and drowning as they take the plunge into the River Avon, spurred by the heatwave.

Mr Dacre, 29, narrowly escaped with his life after contracting Weil's disease from a tiny cut made when he was fishing in the River Avon, near Chippenham, almost a year ago.

He has warned children and teenagers not to take the chance for the sake of a few hours' fun.

"Just don't go in there," he said. "Just don't bother. It isn't worth it. The river is really dirty and it is a health hazard. You'd only have to get the tiniest cut on a piece of rubbish in the river and that could be it."

The disease left Mr Dacre, from Westcroft, permanently blind in one eye and deaf in one ear.

Weil's disease is an infection caused by bacteria in rats' urine, and it left Mr Dacre in a coma for two weeks, fighting for his life. His health is still poor and he is unable to work or even walk more than 500 yards.

But dozens of youngsters are still ignoring the risk, taking advantage of the hot weather to swim in the river.

Mr Dacre said: "When I see them swimming in the river it makes me want to put my hand in my pocket to give them a couple of quid to swim in a proper pool.

"But in this hot weather people want to be outside. At this time of year the water's low and the rats' urine is more concentrated. It's very dangerous."

Weil's disease is only one of the potentially fatal consequences of swimming in the river. Members of Chippenham Sailing Club are very concerned about the safety of youngsters who swim in the river from the bank opposite the club often when boats are on the Avon.

"It's a constant problem," said club member Tom Perry.

"From the sailor's point of view it's a problem because the boats are travelling quite fast and they can't be turned or stopped quickly.

"We ask the children to get out but they don't always listen and it could cause a terrible accident.

"Just last Sunday we had two boats coming together from opposite directions and a child swimming in the middle."

He said groups of boys would often ignore requests to get out of the river because of gang bravado.

While small groups of two to four would get out, larger gangs of around 20 often ignored repeated warnings.

The swimmers are also at risk because they climb on to the club's racing control hut roof to jump into the river. The roof is now in danger of collapsing.

Mr Perry said the boys, aged between eight and 15, swam in the river most days in the summer holidays.

When they cross the river to the sailing club, members have called the police in a bid to keep them away.

Members have eve0n coated the racing control hut roof with sticky black paint in a bid to keep the swimmers off.

A spokesman for the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents said it would urge people not to swim in any inland waterways, including rivers, reservoirs and quarries.

She said: "It is a big problem. In 2001, 40 children under 15 were drowned in inland waters in the UK. Most of them were boys.

"With hot weather, like now, we do see more drownings. People act more spontaneously and just jump into the water but it's not a safe thing to do. If you want to swim, go to a pool or a beach."

ssingleton@newswilts.co.uk