Children playing ‘chicken’ in front of boats warned of deadly consequences

A POTENTIALLY deadly craze has seen children playing “chicken” with boats by jumping off walls at a Lothian harbour in front of the vessels.

Gangs of children have been gathering at North Berwick Harbour in East Lothian for “tombstoning”, where they leap into the sea from its walls.

Now harbour officials say the youngsters have been daring each other to take part in increasingly dangerous  behaviour.

As well as performing backflips and somersaults into the water, children have begun leaping in front of boats at the last minute, forcing them to take evasive action.

Police have issued a warning to youngsters that they could be paralysed or killed by indulging in the stunts.

Jackie Tagg, a member of the North Berwick Harbour Trust, watched children dive in front of her own boat, and said their behaviour was an “accident waiting to happen”.

She said: “No matter how much parents, teenagers and children think they know about the depth, tides, currents and rocks, there will always be safety issues, particularly with jumping off the old pier.

“They could be swept into the old pier where there are metal steps and concrete, and there are also boats around. If they run and jump, and lose their footing, they could go head-first into rocks.”

Groups of as many as 20 youngsters have been congregating to take part in  tombstoning – jumping into the sea from a high point so the jumper enters the water vertically straight, like a tombstone.

In another incident, a boy was encouraged to jump but did not leap far enough and injured his back after landing in the water.

Ms Tagg said tombstoning also interfered with vessels using the harbour, including those taking visitor trips to the Firth of Forth islands.