Wristbands will help identify children on the beach

Children will get a wristband to wear on the beach and in the water as part of a new safety move being launched by Swansea coastguard.

The scheme is part of a campaign to raise public awareness of potential dangers at sea, on the beach and around coastal areas.

Parents can write a contact number on the wristbands.

In emergencies, the coastguard can then quickly identify lost children and reunite them with their families.

Any coastal or marine incident, including injuries, its our job to deal with. Bob Peel, Watch Officer at MSRCC Swansea

"Early notification of incidents makes the difference," said Bob Peel, Watch Officer at Maritime Search and Rescue Coordination Centre (MSRCC) in Swansea.

"But people don't always call the coastguard first."

"Any coastal or marine incident, including injuries, its our job to deal with.

"We can call all of the other emergency services from our coordination centre."

The campaign was launched at the MSRCC on Friday.

Based in Mumbles, the centre looks after the whole of the Bristol Channel area, a total of approximately 5000 square miles of water and 284 miles of coastline.

They responded to 923 incidents and rescued 1084 people last year, up on the previous year. The number of deaths, however, fell by one to 22.

Early danger

Swansea coastguard carried out more than 1,000 rescues last year

Early summer often sees a sharp rise in the number of accidents at sea, when boats are put to sea for the first time after being out of the water for the winter.

"Boat owners can forget, and put to sea without fully checking safety equipment or making sure the vessel is sound," said Mr Peel.

Coastguard crews are trained to deal with incidents that often happen in remote or inaccessible places, using lifeboats and helicopters, and trials are now being conducted with hovercraft.

These are expected to be operational by the summer, and will be used in the mud flats and shallow water between the coast and low-water mark.