THE tragic death toll over the last 16 months in lodges around Bolton has prompted by the BEN campaign. The tragic death toll is as follows:

April 1999: John Hardman died in a drowning tragedy after falling into a Little Lever canal. The nine-year-old boy was dragged unconscious out of the canal on a stretch of water behind houses in Ascot Road.

May 1999: Non-swimmer Jamie Brooks, 10, of Myrrh Street, Astley Bridge, drowned in a murky lodge off Waters Meeting Road, near to the Valley Centertainment Park, on a fishing trip to catch tadpoles.

June 1999: Edith Withington, 64, of Laxey Crescent, Leigh, was found face down in the Leeds and Liverpool Canal close to the Atherleigh Way by-pass.

July 1999: Elderly widow Kathleen Scott drowned after falling into a Turton reservoir as she walked her dog. The 69-year-old, of Beech Avenue, Darwen, is believed to have slipped when she was walking along a narrow path around Entwistle Reservoir. July 1999: Christopher Dixon, 37, from Chorley, drowned in a lodge on the edge of Rivington moors after he got into difficulties while swimming. A desperate search has been mounted by air rescue after the emergency services were called to Top Lodge, off Froom Street, Chorley.

September 1999: Ramsbottom Sub Officer Paul Metcalf drowned in a vain attempt to rescue teenager Reyaz Ali who dived into a lake to cool off. The fireman waded into waters at Simon's Lodge in Redisher Woods, Holcombe Brook but slipped under the surface as he searched for the boy.

June 2000: Mervyn Little, 45, was discovered face down in Doffcocker Lodge. Police are still piecing together his whereabouts prior to the death.

August 2000: Jaffer Javid, 8, dies in murky water at Bradshaw Lodge.