Officer warned canal death youth

A 13-year-old boy who drowned playing with friends in a Lancashire canal lock had been warned not to go into the water, police have revealed.

The boy, identified by police as Dylan Gabriel, was with friends at the lock on Tom Benson Way in Preston on Sunday.

Lancashire Police said the group was warned by a passing community support officer not to enter the water.

Forty minutes later police were alerted and the boy was taken to hospital but could not be resuscitated.

Canal drained

Det Insp Mick Gradwell, of Lancashire Police, said they did not believe there had been any "maliciousness or criminal intent".

It is thought Dylan, from the Callon estate in the Fishwick area of Preston, was with a group of six friends by the water's edge.

The police spokeswoman said the boys had been warned by the PCSO not to go into the water at the lock where signs warning of the dangers of swimming are clearly displayed.

One onlooker, Stephanie Marsden, of Cresswell Avenue, described the scene as "horrible" and said she cried as the emergency services worked to retrieve the body of the boy.

"They had canoe boats, and they drained all the canal to let all the water go right down.

"When they drained it out, they told us to go away. A fire engine pulled up as they were getting him out.

"I saw a stretcher. They were putting that down, and then they moved us off, then I couldn't see them pulling the body out."