“TOMBSTONING ruins lives.” That is the message being targeting at young people in Dorset in a bid to combat a growing problem.

The potentially lethal practice, which involves leaping from height into the water, is particularly common from piers.

It has left people across the country paralysed or worse after they jumped into shallow water or hit submerged objects – and it is becomingly worryingly more common in Purbeck, according to coastguards.

So as the summer holidays approach they are teaming up with police and beach wardens to spell out the dangers to young people.

Swanage coastguard station manager Ian Brown said: “We have had nine deaths and 18 serious injuries in two years nationally.

“That figure just can’t keep going up – it ruins people’s lives.

“We don’t want the local area to be tainted with statistics like that.”

He said last weekend alone there were five incidents of tombstoning reported in Purbeck, with Swanage Pier and Quay, Wareham Quay and Dancing Ledge among the hot spots.

While there had been not injuries in the area so far, Mr Brown said that they were inevitable if it didn’t stop “We are seeing a huge increase in children finishing school and rushing down to the water and throwing themselves in,” he added.

“We need to get the message across to parents as well.

“I don’t want to be knocking on someone’s door to tell them their son or daughter is in hospital with serious neck injuries”

He added: “We not being killjoys, we’re not health and safety anoraks – this is serious.

“That is the message we’re trying to get across.”

Coastguards and police will be visited schools before the end of term to speak to youngsters about the dangers, Purbeck section commander Inspector Chris Weeks said: “Tombstoning is unacceptable.

“There is no safe way to carry it out.”