A LIFE belt donated by the family of a heroic Kendal man is being regularly removed prompting the council to issue a serious safety warning to prevent a future fatality.

The life belt at Sandy Bottoms on the River Kent has been provided by the family of 28-year-old Peter Cannon who bravely dived into the fast flowing waters to rescue a six-year-old boy.

Mr Cannon rescued Alfie Tallon but became trapped himself and later died at Furness General Hospital in Barrow.

A spokesperson for South Lakeland District Council (SLDC) said that since the beginning of last year the lifebelt has been removed several times. On three occasions it had been washed further down the river but at other times a new lifebelt has had to be installed.

There have also been seven other removals of the vital lifesaving equipment at riverside locations at Abbot Hall, Dockray Walk and Gooseholme over the same period.

Alfie is now 18 years old and still living in Kendal, and his mother, Karen Airey, has praised Mr Cannon for his valour and issued a reminder of the importance of the belts.

"What he did was such a heroic act, he sacrificed his life to save my son's. He's an absolute hero," she said. "You're talking about life or death with these belts. There's a lot of strong undercurrents and if there's no belt to throw you really are talking about the possibility of loss of life.

"They're vital really because a lot of people swim down there."

David Fletcher, SLDC portfolio holder for environment, added: "It's completely out of order and inconsiderate to move them.

"They have not been located in the places they are by chance, it's because there's water there that can be dangerous and people can get in trouble.

"They are there for a reason and that's to save people's lives."

Peter Clarke, recreational engineer at SLDC, said: “We would advise people to only use them when necessary and report any misuse or faulty equipment. Of course these life belts may have been used to try to help someone, or may have been accidentally lost in the water.

“But we would ask that if you have cause to use a life belt or throw-line and it isn’t returned to the housing, that you report it to the council as missing so that we can organise for it to be quickly replaced.’’