Boy dies after swimming pool incident at Center Parcs

Police said there were no suspicious circumstances regarding the death

A four-year-old boy has died after being involved in a “serious medical incident” at Center Parcs holiday village in Wiltshire.

Police were called to the site in Warminster at around 11am on Christmas Eve, and publicly confirmed the child’s death just after 3.30pm.

The incident is not being treated as suspicious.

“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,” Wiltshire Police said in a statement.

“This is not being treated as suspicious. Our thoughts are with the boy’s family at this difficult time,” the force added.

Center Parcs UK confirmed the “serious incident” had taken place at a swimming pool on the site.

The holiday village – situated in Longleat Forest – is home to a “subtropical swimming paradise” facility – a water park, which includes a wave pool and water slides.

A mother-of-five staying at the leisure complex said the atmosphere was “very quiet”, and that the park’s TV channel was displaying a message that the pool was closed following a “serious medical incident”.

The woman, who is from the Midlands and did not want to be named, said: “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. 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 holidaymaker 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. It’s very quiet though,” she said.

Center Parcs said it was offering support to the boy’s family and to its employees “who provided immediate assistance”.

Additional reporting by PA