A Swadlincote man has been hit with a community warning after he was discovered scaling a dam wall at a Derbyshire reservoir.

Officers from the Safer Neighbourhood Team (SNT) attended Foremark Reservoir on Tuesday 3 August, after a Severn Trent Water ranger observed a trio breaking into a highly restricted area at the location.

The man had vaulted over a wall and was seen clambering over 200 metres of jagged rocks on the reservoir dam wall.

Specialist rangers, from a nearby water treatment works, had been alerted to the unwelcome explorer and had raised the alarm.

Officers arrived at the scene within minutes and accessed the dam wall structure via two locked gates. They were horrified to discover that the male was in the company of two young children in his care.

The Safer Neighbourhood Team immediately engaged with the male and ordered him to exit the extremely dangerous dam wall structure.

The team explained the dangers of the very cold and deep, toxic water, which contains many unseen obstacles below.

The area where the male was found was very close to a series of extremely powerful siphons that manage and suck the flow of liquids in and out of the reservoir. The male and the children could have easily been sucked into a siphon if they had fallen into the treacherous water.

For his actions he was given a Community Protection Notice Warning (CPNW). The warning prohibits the male from entering any reservoir, with any other person or child, in South Derbyshire, including Foremark Reservoir.

He was also ordered not to endanger the safety and wellbeing of children in his care, as well as being warned not to cause nuisance, harassment, alarm or distress to one or more persons not of his household anywhere in South Derbyshire.

The warning notice lasts for 12 months, and if not adhered to can result in a full notice, which carries criminal sanctions and fines.