THE Blue Lagoon has been enjoyed by the people of Belmont and Bolton for more than 100 years as a beauty spot and recreation area.

Officially known as Ward’s Reservoir, it was created in the mid-1800s, by damming the valley, to service the bleach works in Egerton Road, Belmont.

The works, which used to be the biggest employer in the village, closed in 2004 and were converted into offices.

As the reservoir was created only for industrial purposes — it has never been used as a drinking water supply — it has been purely ornamental for the past six years.

For many years, the reservoir came under the jurisdiction of Lancashire County Council, until 1997, when Blackburn with Darwen Council became a unitary authority and took over. In 2006, it handed responsibility for monitoring the reservoir to the Environment Agency, which had a stricter view on ensuring that the Blue Lagoon meet the requirements of the Reservoir Act 1975 (updated in 2010).

The act specifies, among other things, that reservoirs must be able to withstand huge one-in-a 1,000-year floods.

In the past, The Blue Lagoon was used by members of the Bolton Swimming Club, who, within the past 30 years, even used it for water polo practice.

Health and safety considerations put an end to that, however, and swimming in the reservoir is now strictly forbidden.

The emergency services have carried out a number of demonstrations in the reservoir over the past few years to show how dangerous it can be.

Nicholas Wetton, aged 17, from Coppull, died in the Blue Lagoon when he got into difficulties swimming with friends on a hot August day in 2004.

Four years earlier, David McHugh, aged 33, from Salford, drowned while trying to save his sevenyear- old son Daniel after their dinghy sank in August, 2000.

Daniel was saved by passers-by who plunged into the water to save him.