YOUTHS throwing life rings in the water could have cost someone their life.

That is the view of a lifeboat spokesman, who slammed reports of two teenage boys throwing the lifebuoys into the water at Barrow’s Channelside yesterday.

Pictures circulated on social media of the lifebuoys in the water, said to have been thrown in the Walney Channel by two boys around 12-years-old.

A walker said she confronted the two boys to say their behaviour was dangerous but was met with abuse.

The action was condemned by Chris Clouter, a spokesman for the Royal National Lifeboat Institute in Barrow.

He said throwing the buoys away could lead to a potential death in the water.

Mr Clouter said: “It’s a shocking and foolish act to just throw them in the water.

“If we were to end with none of these lifebuoys as a result of this, it could lead to a potential loss of life.

“It’s a very serious thing to have done.

“On top of that it’s going to cost time and money for someone to retrieve them or install new ones.”

Barrow’s deputy mayor, councillor Helen Wall, also criticised the pair, calling them ‘idiots’.

She said: “Boys have been doing this since the 1950s and I don’t know how we can tackle it.

“It’s not big and it’s not clever.

“t’s just annoying and ultimately very dangerous.

“It’s always boys as well. You never see girls doing this kind of thing.

“What can you do about them? There is always some idiots that want to do it.”

The councillor, Barrow Council’s spokesman for wildlife, heritage and cultures, said: “It’s very worrying to think about what could happen if someone was caught out at high tide.”

According to the Anti-social Behaviour Crime and Policing Act 2014, interfering with water safety equipment such as lifebuoys is illegal.

Usually, the potential punishment for those who flout the rules is a £90 fine, reduced to £60 if paid within 10 working days.

If they fail to pay up, culprits could be hauled before the courts and hit with a £1,000 fine if they are convicted.

It is understood that the a member of staff from Barrow’s Associated British Ports has retrieved and replaced the lifebuoys.