As the warmer weather starts to arrive, many of us will start looking for places to cool off.
Wild swimming has taken off in recent years and an increasing number of sites are being given bathing water status.
The total number of official bathing waters across the country is 424, the highest recorded.
And the Government said the proportion of bathing waters assessed as ‘good’ or ‘excellent’ has increased from 76% to 93%, while 72% are considered ‘excellent’ compared with 51% in 2010.
Wildswimming.co.uk has a crowd-sourced map that shows a number of wild swimming spots around Worcestershire.
These include the River Teme at Powick Bridge in Worcester. The website says the water wasn’t deep but was fast-flowing and fresh. It also warns that this location is not for inexperienced swimmers.
The River Avon at Eckington, near Pershore, is on the map although it says it can be tricky to get into the water at points.
Bredon, on the Gloucestershire border, is also listed, but this stretch of the River Avon is described as very silty and busy with boats in the daytime.
READ MORE: Open water swimming warning over drowning risk
The website says the Avon is more easily accessible, including for disabled swimmers, near the Fleet Inn.
Also in the Tewkesbury area is the River Severn at Lower Lode. The river is described as being easily accessible here, although there’s a warning that parking at the Lower Lode Hotel gets busy and that the current can be strong.
It's worth mentioning that none of these sites are on the Government's list of approved bathing sites. The nearest to Worcestershire is Cotswold Country Park and Beach in Cirencester.
Where not to swim in Worcestershire
There are places in Worcestershire where the public are advised not to swim, no matter how appealing the water may look.
These include Gullet Quarry near Malvern, which has claimed lives in the past including those of Justas Juzenas, aged 22, of Ross-on-Wye and Russell O’Neill, aged 17, of Worcester who both drowned there in July of 2013.
Five Tunnels in Redditch is also among the locations not recommended for swimmers. Many of north Worcestershire’s waterways include deep weirs with dangerous currents.
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