Staying Safe In Quarries

Warnings about the dangers of quarries as half term approaches.

Teenagers across the East Midlands are being asked to think about what could happen to themselves and their friends and family if they mess about in a quarry.

That from the friends of 15 year old Ryan Walker from Derbyshire - who died 2 years ago when he went swimming in a disused quarry. "It's not just the fact you can injure yourself, lose your life - but how devastating it is to your friends and family, and the effect its gonna have on the community you live in".

Ryan's Mum Tracey: "Kids think that they're indestructible and nothing will happen to them, but look what happened to Ryan"

The Mineral Products association have launched a new campaign to raise awareness of the dangers. They're critical of websites and other social media sites that encourage young people to enter quarries or other similarly dangerous sites. It hopes that its own use of social media - the campaign's Facebook page "Stay Safe ... Stay Out of quarries" will encourage greater teenage awareness of the risks and consequences of entering a quarry uninvited.

The video below shows what sort of impact the death of a young person in a quarry has on their family and friends: