FIRE crews were called after three boys broke into a pond and one fell into the deep water.

The boys had scaled the perimeter fence around Barracks Lodge behind Newington Drive and Greenhill Road before climbing into a raft.

One of the boys was then witnessed falling into the water by a nearby resident who called the fire service.

Crews used ladders to climb over the fencing but were unable to find the boys, despite using a drone.

They then launched a search through social media and by talking to residents, discovering the boys had made it home safe.

A GMFRS spokesman said: "Three boys scaled the perimeter fence and had started messing around in one of the rafts used by one of the trustees.

"A nearby resident saw one of the boys fall in, who had scrambled out of the water.

"It's pretty secure, we had to scale it with ladders to get in.

"We also used got the air drone down to search the area and the pond in case there was any chance of them still being in there.

"Then through talking to residents and by searching Facebook we found out their names at that they were all home, safe and well."

GMFRS urged people not to go in open water as it can be extremely dangerous, especially due to cold temperatures and if there is no lifeguard.

The warning has also been echoed by water company United Utilities, who own 180 reservoirs in the North West, ahead of the bank holiday weekend.

The risk of danger is shown to rise in warmer weather as more people are drawn to cooling off in reservoirs and stretches of unsupervised water.

Despite tragic loss of life every year, research by the firm has found that over a third of people in the region would brave reservoir waters if the weather was good - with teenagers shown to be the most keen.

Paula Steer, director of Health and Safety and Wellbeing at United Utilities said: “As with most things during our youth, peer pressure plays a massive part. 

"We want that peer pressure to change from urging each other to get into the water, to urging each other to stay safe and not to go in.

“Reservoirs are there as storage so we can supply customers with drinking water.

“This means they are very deep and are extremely cold in places – causing cold shock which takes your breath away and makes it hard to swim.

“There are also hidden currents in the water and underwater machinery, adding further danger to even the strongest of swimmers.

“We absolutely want everyone to visit and enjoy our reservoirs, but please do so from the safety of the banks.”

United Utilites' advice follows a series of instances over the past few weeks of young people swimming unsupervised in the region's reservoirs.