AN investigation carried out after a firefighter drowned in a lodge while trying to rescue a teenager found there were no national guidelines on water rescues.

Richard Clarke, an inspector with the Health and Safety Initiative, told a court of his five-year probe into the death of part-time firefighter Paul Metcalf.

Mr Metcalf, aged 40, drowned trying to save 15-year-old Reyaz Ali at Simon's Lodge, Holcombe Brook, on September 5, 1999.

Mr Clarke said his investigation into the circumstances surrounding and leading up to Mr Metcalf's death failed to find any guidelines on water rescues, not only in Manchester, but across the country.

He said the HSE consulted other UK fire services to compare their procedures.

Defence barrister Mark Turner QC said: "After this incident there was a committee set up which provides national guidelines on the safety of firefighters conducting water rescues. This was set up on the basis of work that had already been started by Greater Manchester Fire Service prior to Paul Metcalf's death.

"I put it to you that far from showing Manchester to be uniquely bad in terms of safety procedures for this type of rescue, your investigation proved that they were uniquely good and in fact ahead of most fire services in the country in terms of investigating water rescue safety."

Mr Clarke said: "Yes."

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has taken Greater Manchester Fire and Civil Defence Authority to court, alleging that it failed in its duty as an employer to ensure so far as is practicable, the health, safety and welfare at work of its employees for operations in, on or near water.

The prosecution told Bolton Crown Court that this failure contributed to Mr Metcalf's death. The Authority denies the charge.

Yesterday, the court also heard evidence from Dr Edward Oakley, head of survival and thermal medicine at the Royal Naval Institute of Medicine.

An expert in the field of survival in water, Dr Oakley told the court that anyone attempting a water rescue should be fully equipped, with the correct clothing, buoyancy aids and floating lines as well as appropriate knowledge.

He explained in detail the effects of cold water on the human body, including initial cold shock, swimming failure, physical exhaustion and hypothermia.

Reyaz Ali and several friends from the Darul Uloom College, Holcombe Brook, had gone to the nearby Simon's Lodge to swim, but Reyaz got into difficulties and disappeared beneath the surface.

His friends tried unsuccessfully to reach him and found passers by who called the emergency services.

Firefighters, including Mr Metcalf, entered the water in an attempt at rescuing Reyaz.

Several minutes into the rescue attempt, Mr Metcalf got into difficulties and began shouting and waving his arms.

Despite being pulled on to the bank by other firefighters, attempts to resuscitate him failed.

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