Three children are lost every day in the resort over the summer

Three children are lost every day in the north Wales seaside resort throughout the summer months.

To counteract the problem, youngsters visiting the area will be tagged with a wristband to wear on the beach and in the water as part of the safety move.

The scheme is a joint approach with HM Coastguard, STARS wardens - a community safety group and Denbighshire Council.

It follows a similar scheme by Swansea coastguard, introduced in May.

Parents given tags have been advised to write a contact number inside the wristband but not the child's name.

Frightened

Shayne Jones, a warden with STARS (Safety, Tolerance, Awareness, Regeneration, Security) said it is easy to get separated from your child.

"It's happened to me on a Colwyn Bay fun day," he said.

"This day and age is very frightening because of the fact that you never know who's about and at least they can be found a lot quicker with this idea.

"If there's nowhere for them to be found it can be quite scary for them.

"The tags will be left at the beach patrol station, tourist information and community safety wardens will carry them."

Mr Jones said there have been lots of incidents where children have been lost.

Youngsters visiting Rhyl will be tagged with a wristband

"Two years ago there was one day that we were looking for 25 kids at one time," he said.

Graham Chesterson from Helsby, Wirral said he would tag his grandchildren.

"I think it's a brilliant idea, I would make use of that," he said.

The Rhyl scheme also follows a similar project launched in Devon by Emma Keyte.

"I was actually shopping in Exeter in south Devon with my little boy, who at the time was just under three, and I lost him," she said.

"It was only for 30 seconds but it was the longest 30 seconds of my life, it was absolutely horrible.

"Basically, I thought of what extra step I could take to try and ensure his safety.

"I came up with the idea of Junior ID and eventually started my business from it.

"If the child does wander off or get lost there's a phone number for people to contact them."

The tags will be available at the tourist information centre and beach control office in Rhyl from Monday.