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Four-year-old boy dies at Center Parcs

Wiltshire Police said officers attended the leisure complex at Longleat in support of the South West Ambulance Service on Christmas Eve morning.

Rod Minchin
Saturday 24 December 2022 16:57 GMT
A four-year-old boy has died at Center Parcs in Wiltshire (Alamy/PA)
A four-year-old boy has died at Center Parcs in Wiltshire (Alamy/PA)

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A four-year-old boy has died following an incident at a Center Parcs resort, police said.

Wiltshire Police said officers had attended the leisure complex at Longleat, Wiltshire in support of the South West Ambulance Service on Christmas Eve morning.

Holidaymakers said the swimming pool had been closed due to a “serious medical incident”.

“Sadly, it’s been confirmed that a four-year-old boy has died following an incident at Center Parcs Longleat Forest near Warminster shortly after 11am this morning,” a Wiltshire Police spokesman said.

“This is not being treated as suspicious.

“Our thoughts are with the boy’s family at this difficult time.”

One holidaymaker staying at Centre Parcs for Christmas told the PA news agency: “Thankfully we didn’t see anything. We noticed a big crowd all leaving the plaza.

“We were headed back to our lodge to have lunch before swimming. I checked my phone and saw the pool was closed due to an incident.

“Obviously that’s all we knew originally.

“The plaza is all open, the parc market, gift shops, etc – there is just a temporary barrier across the entrance to the pool itself.”

The mother-of-five, from the Midlands, said the resort had made public announcements that the sub-tropical swimming paradise would remain closed for Christmas Eve.

“If I hadn’t been on the group or seen the announcement on the news, I’d have been none the wiser,” she said.

“It’s very quiet though… It does say there’ll be an announcement later on today re the pool.”

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