THE owners of Belmont's Blue Lagoon where a man drowned issued this stark warning: "Stay off the water."

Julian Smith, managing director of Belmont Bleach Works, was speaking as search teams continued to hunt for the missing man.

Mr Smith confirmed there were no plans to fence off the area amid concerns it would affect people's enjoyment of the beauty spot.

He said: "It is a local beauty spot and enjoyed by everyone. Fencing it off would be like fencing off the sea.

"We would not encourage people to take to the water. Enjoy the area but be very careful.

"Any body of water can be extremely dangerous. People have got to be sensible."

Yesterday's incident is the latest in a list of tragedies at the popular countryside stop-off point. In 1967, 15-year-old schoolboy David Litherland Norton was pulled from the depths despite a desperate rescue bid to save him.

And 13 years later, a Bolton policeman's wife died after the car she was in plunged into the lagoon.

In 1987, Mark Nicholas Todd, aged 18, from Chorley, was found by police frogmen in the murky water.

The future of the lagoon was thrown into doubt the same year after the owners were quoted £200,000 for essential work on the reservoir.

But in 1988, the waterway, which dates back 150 years and is officially named Ward's Reservoir, was saved following talks between Lancashire County Council bosses and EEC chiefs.