POLICE have warned people to take care near open water after a father of three drowned in a tragic accident.

David McHugh, of Withcombe Place, Salford had gone to the Blue Lagoon at Belmont, near Rivington, for a day out with his estranged partner Mandy McDonald of Little Hulton and their three children Amy, five, Alice, three, and Daniel, seven.

According to an eyewitness, Mr McHugh was with Daniel as he played in a dinghy on the lake during the early afternoon. Daniel fell into the water and his father jumped in to rescue him.

Both got into difficulties and three onlookers -- Ben Melia, 20, Michael Davies, 18, and Richard Keeling, 17, from Walkden -- managed to get the boy out of the water, but Mr McHugh disappeared from sight.

The accident happened at around 2pm last Wednesday, August 23.

Lancashire and Cumbria's underwater search unit attended the scene, but had to call off the operation at dusk.

They resumed their search the following morning, assisted by teams from Cheshire, Merseyside and North Wales, and recovered Mr McHugh's body shortly after midday.

Although there have been no similar incidents at the site in the past few years, police officers issued a fresh warning about the dangers of playing near open water.

A spokesman for the Lancashire and Cumbria underwater search unit said: "It is tempting to swim in water, but remember that the water can be very cold."

Swimmers should swim either in areas with lifeguard protection, or to stick to swimming pools, beware of strong currents or unseen objects and wear life jackets when using boats, dinghies, jet skis or similar.