Bath and North East Somerset Council, Avon and Somerset Police and Fire Service, the Environment Agency and the River Trust, are due to look again at safety measures along the River Avon after another young person tragically drowned in Bath last week.

The River Safety group is reported to be meeting in response to the discovery of a body, thought to be that of missing nineteen-year-old Bath Spa University student, Henry Burke, last weekend, who went missing in the early hours of Friday morning.

It takes the total number of people who have drowned in the river up to nine over the past seven years.

A representative from B&NES Council said: “As a member of the River Safety Group, Bath and North East Somerset Council would like to express its sincere condolences to the family and friends of Henry Burke, whose body is believed to have been found in the River Avon on Saturday.

“The Council is keen to emphasise that although the River Avon is a beautiful part of the city, people are reminded of the importance of staying safe around the water, particularly at night time.”

The River Safety Group, the multi-agency group made up of representatives from Avon and Somerset Constabulary, Avon Fire and Rescue, Bath and North East Somerset Council, the Environment Agency and the Canal and Rivers Trust, will be convened to review existing safety measures that are already in place.

This is the first fatality upstream of Pulteney Weir, an area where the adjoining land is predominantly privately-owned, with limited public access.

Actions taken so far by the River Safety Group, as well as those underway, to improve river safety include:

• Educating students about the risks presented by the river through the ‘Got Ya Back’ Campaign, which has been rolled out across Bath College, Bath Spa University and the University of Bath since March 2015;

• Officers from Avon Fire and Rescue and Bath and North East Somerset Council discussed river safety with around 250 students at Bath Spa University Fresher’s Fair in September 2016;

• Producing an online river safety film which Bath Spa University and the

University of Bath have shared with their freshers, and Bath College has shared with its students; which has had almost 2,000 views on YouTube;

• Installing fourteen new river rescue cabinets along the stretch of river from Windsor Bridge to Pulteney Bridge in Bath;

• Erecting fencing along a stretch of the river between Windsor Bridge Road and Green Park, and between Thimble Mill and Churchill Bridge and on the sloped path leading from Green Park Road. The project took place in 2013 and cost around £140,000;

• And providing new gated access from the river in a stretch of existing fencing between Widcombe Lock and Spring Gardens Road.

Henry’s family and friends have spoken through the local media calling for action to prevent any more incidents along the river path, and also asking for more to be done in local drinking establishments to warn people of the dangers of the river.