TRIBUTES have been paid to two friends who drowned while swimming in a reservoir.
Sean Marshall, 20, and Ross Munn, 17, were with a group of friends when they entered the water at Mill Glen Reservoir in Ardrossan, North Ayrshire, at around 7.40pm on Monday night.
Mr Munn is understood to have got into difficulty and Mr Marshall, who was known as Sean Paul, tried to help but they were both pulled under and did not resurface.
A third man then entered the reservoir to help but could not find them. Friends called police, who arrived with divers, a helicopter and around 10 firefighters and coastguard staff.
The bodies were pulled from Mill Glen Reservoir by police divers on Sunday night.
At the reservoir yesterday, grieving friends and relatives laid tributes to the young men.
Friends visited the scene yesterday to leave flowers and other tributes, including a grey teddy bear.
One woman, Stephanie Hutchinson, stuck a note with a single purple flower and a teddy bear to the small wall that surrounds the reservoir.
It said: "Still can't believe that both of you have gone, I'm so heartbroken. Both of you were very special to me and to all your friends and family.
"I'll miss you guys so much, if only I could get one more hug and hear your voice one last time. Love you both so much, RIP Ross and Sean."
Mill Glen is around 131ft wide and 26ft deep. It is located among farmland about a mile north-east of Ardrossan and police said it is popular with local people, particularly during the summer.
A neighbour of Mr Marshall's said: "Supposedly they had spent the day up there fishing. One of the boys went in swimming and got into bother so Sean Paul jumped in to try and help him. The group of friends got help but it must have been too late.
"The dam is a popular spot for children to hang about but this just proves how dangerous it is up there."
Another friend said: "Sean Paul and Ross were always really close pals. You never saw one without the other and they always hung about up at the dam.
"They were both lovely guys and Sean Paul is being named a hero all over Facebook. He would do anything for anyone and it's such a shame."
Superintendent Neil Kerr, from Police Scotland, said the group had been "enjoying the good weather, swimming in the reservoir".
He warned people about the dangers of playing or swimming in open water.
He said: "It may look calm on the surface but there may be strong undercurrents. The water can also be very cold and deep, and there are often sudden drops and underwater obstacles and undergrowth that you cannot see, causing even the strongest of swimmers to get into difficulty very easily."
Carlene McAvoy, Scotland's community safety development officer for health and safety organisation RoSPA, said: "When the weather hots up we understand the temptation to go swimming in open water, like a reservoir, but there are many issues that people may not be aware of.
"Things to remember are that the water might be a lot colder and deeper than you expect, and there may be strong currents and underwater debris which may lead to even the most experienced swimmer getting into difficulties.
"Consider how you are going to get out of the water before you get in and be honest about your swimming ability. RoSPA's advice is to go swimming at properly-supervised sites, such as beaches, lidos or swimming pools, although we appreciate that not everyone can get to these locations."
Police Scotland said a report would be sent to the procurator-fiscal.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article