THOUSANDS of families who holiday in West Dorset each summer need to be better warned of the dangers of swimming off its treacherous beaches - or more will die.

That was blunt warning this week from a local councillor following the double drowning tragedy in the sea off Freshwater holiday park.

Coun Mark Parsons, Burton Bradstock's district councillor, called for a system of warning flags along the dangerous coastline, monitored by experienced coastguards and patrolled by lifeguards.

He says adopting a system like that in Cornwall is the only way to ensure that swimmers get the message about the potentially lethal conditions that they may face.

Red flags for danger, amber for caution and green for go should be placed along the public beaches in the area, he says - although he concedes that this could not be imposed at the privately-owned Freshwater Beach where the latest tragedy occurred.

Coun Parsons' plea for action came just hours after seven-year-old Jack Shelton died in his mother's arms on Monday following the dramatic rescue operation off the coast last Thursday.

Family man Mike Beatwell, 35, from Blackpool, one of those who bravely went to Jack's rescue, drowned in the rough seas.

Coun Parsons told the News that it was time to learn the lessons of the past - and appoint beach wardens to patrol the coastline.

"It beggars belief that something like this has not been done particularly in the summer to warn people of the sea conditions," he told The News.

"I have personally been involved in two separate rescues in the past - pulling people out."

Coun Parsons said visitors were often unaware of the dangerous undertow that can exist.

"When we have these hard swells it is quite deceptive because you can get out beyond the breakers and have a swim but getting back in is another matter. Because of the nature of the swell it goes back under itself. Instead of rolling back in on top of the wave you get dragged out. The beach is also steeply shelving in places, depending on the tides, and the currents can be strong. There have been countless incidents. "You could say that with the amount of visitors we have had this summer we were, perhaps, lucky not to have had more than two deaths."

Coun Parsons said deciding when the sea was safe was " a difficult one to call" and that was why he suggested coastguards should act as beach wardens and co-ordinate the warning flag system. "They have got to know what they are doing," he said.

But he warned that said no matter what safeguards they put in place at the end of the day people would always be at some risk along the shoreline.

Coun Parsons said warning signs had been improved along the coast since a woman drowned at West Bexington a couple of years ago. Freshwater was not included in the scheme, however, because it was privately owned. He hoped the camp would consider having beach lifeguards as well as pool lifeguards in future.

Coun Parsons added that he hoped to raise the beach safety issues at the next full meeting of West Dorset District Council.

"We need to do all we can to warn people of the dangers - especially with the extra visitors expected because of our World Heritage site status," he said.

This week a Dorset County Council spokesman confirmed that as Freshwater Beach is privately owned they had no plans to put extra warning signs there.

But the spokesman added: "Dorset County Council will be contacting the private beach owners to offer help about erecting signs to help prevent a future tragedy of this kind."

When The News contacted the caravan and campsite they were told that all enquiries about the incident were being dealt with by Bridport police.