COVENTRY MESSAGE BOARD

A body has been found in a pool at a Warwickshire nature reserve.



A search was started when a 19-year-old man was reported missing after failing to return from a swim with friends at Ensor's Pool Nature Reserve.

He was reported missing at 16:55 BST on Friday and rescuers continued to search overnight at the flooded former clay pit in Stockingford, Nuneaton.

Nuneaton and Bedworth Borough Council said a body had been found at 03:20 BST but had not been formally identified.

The council said: "All of our thoughts are with the family at this tragic time."

Warwickshire Police is investigating and the death is currently being treated as unexplained.

The pool was once a clay pit serving a nearby colliery and brick works and is now home to a rare breed of crayfish.

It is a site of special scientific interest and no swimming signs are displayed around the pool.

Tributes have been paid to a teenage dad who drowned during an afternoon swim at a Nuneaton beauty spot.

The 19-year-old – named locally as Jake Butler – got into difficulty while cooling off with three friends at Ensor’s Pool, a council-owned community conservation area off Heath End Road, Stockingford.

It is believed the group had been diving in and out of the water-filled former claypit for over an hour when tragedy struck at 5pm last Friday.

The alarm was raised by a woman walking her dog along a perimeter footpath who heard crieds of help after Mr Butler had disappeared below the surface.

A huge rescue operation was mounted by police and fire officers, who used boats, inflatable walkways, thermal imaging cameras and a helicopter to search for the teenager.

His body was eventually found 10 hours later by specialist divers who had been brought in.

Mr Butler, who was born in Birmingham, lived locally and is understood to be the father of two young children.