Woman arrested in murder and child neglect probe as girl, 3, dies in hotel swimming pool

The child got into trouble yesterday morning while in the pool at the Dalmeny Hotel in Lancashire

A woman has been arrested on suspicion of murder after a girl, 3, died in a hotel swimming pool (Google Maps)

A 40-year-old woman has been arrested on suspicion of murder and child neglect after a three-year-old girl died in a hotel swimming pool.

The toddler is believed to have got into difficulty in the water at the Dalmeny Hotel, in St Annes, Lancashire, at 11am yesterday, while staying there with her parents.

A witness, Carole Greenwood, is understood to have pulled the girl from the 7ft-deep pool and had managed to resuscitate her.

Mrs Greenwood, who was preparing for a swim with her two-year-old grandson, said that someone had been asking for a lifeguard.

Having once been a pool attendant herself and a swimming teacher, she dived in to try and save the child.

“She was on the bottom, she was unresponsive and I pulled her out as per my training and then I resuscitated her on the side,” she said.

“I did manage to resuscitate her and she was breathing when the ambulance arrived.”

However, the girl, who is from Galashiels in Scotland, was taken to the Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital in a critical condition and died in the evening.

The arrested woman, who is also from Galashiels, has been released on bail “pending further enquiries,” Lancashire Police said, until 15 November.

Detective Inspector Nick Connaughton said: “We are treating this tragic incident as an unexplained death and are continuing to investigate just how the child has come into difficulties in the pool.

“Our thoughts remain with the child's family at this sad time.”

The 100-bedroom hotel has declined to comment.