Boys barred from pool due to 'dangerous trunks'

But those visiting Harlow Pool in Essex have no choice after knee-length shorts were banned - for health and safety reasons.

Details of the extraordinary edict emerged after three boys were sent home for wearing 'inappropriate' baggy shorts.

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Marc Smith, 13, his brother Ryan, 12, and their cousin Eliot Lee, also 12, were stunned when a lifeguard at the council-run pool told them the loose material could dangerously impede their swimming.

The brothers' mother yesterday accused bosses of being "a few gallons short of a full pool" - particularly as they admitted there has never been an accident at the pool involving shorts.

"The manager said the drag of the material could impede swimming. But surely it comes down to how good a swimmer you are?" said Amanda Smith, 36, a buyer for a major home building firm.

"Marc, Ryan and Eliot are all competent swimmers - my sons used to swim for a swimming club and they would do 30-40 lengths just to warm up."

Mrs Smith, who lives with husband Dave, 39, a cabinet maker, pointed out Harlow Council in Essex had been encouraging children to be active.

She also complained the ban was not flagged up on signs at reception or on the pool's website.

Brandishing a pair of the offending black shorts, she said: "It's the sort of thing all boys wear. It's the fashion. No boy wants to wear Speedos these days.

"They had been there loads of times before and this had never happened. They wear these trunks to swim at school as well.

"Why pay for pool attendants and lifeguards if they are just going to sit there and look pretty? A child in Speedos could get in trouble too.

"I know health and safety is important but it can go too far."

The boys had got changed and were just about to jump in the pool on August 9 when a female lifeguard stopped them. They have not returned since.

Ryan said: "The woman said we could borrow someone else's trunks and we said 'No thanks'. As if we would want to wear someone else's trunks.

"We always wear these shorts. I wouldn't be seen dead in Speedos.

"They didn't even offer us a refund. We had to ask for it."

Last year Britain's 'nanny-in-chief' admitted the so-called cotton wool culture had gone too far.

Bill Callaghan, chairman of the Health and Safety Commission, spoke out in the wake of absurd rules imposed across the country, including bans in schools on conker fights and paper planes and councils knocking over 'unstable' cemetery headstones in case they fell on visitors.

In 2002 - the latest year for statistics on deaths by drowning - 427 people died, the third year running that numbers had dropped.

Of these, just 40 were among under-15s. The total number of deaths in swimming pools was 15.

A Harlow Council spokeswoman defended the policy, saying: 'This type of swimwear is specifically designed for strong swimmers, as it creates extra drag.

"However, it is sold widely and is available to swimmers of all abilities who may not be aware of this.

"Unfortunately, we have no way of knowing whether the people who wear these shorts are proficient swimmers or not when they enter the pool.

"Therefore, in the interest of safety, we have introduced a dress code."

But the Royal Society yesterday poured cold water on the claim.

A spokewoman said: "Swimming in trunks is always preferable because the bigger the clothing, the more friction it causes.

"But swimming in knee-length trunks won't make you drown."