asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people have been drowned in the last year while swimming from beaches in the United Kingdom; how many people were drowned while trying to rescue swimmers in trouble; and how many of those drowned had ignored danger warnings such as red flags.

The only relevant information we have from the Office of Population Censuses and Surveys is that in coastal waters off England and Wales in 1973 there were 80 accidental drownings not involving boats.