Marsden v Bourne Leisure[2009] EWCA 671

A small child drowned in a lake on a holiday park and the parents sought a breach of the Occupier’s Liability duty on the part of the park’s owners. The pond was surrounded by wooden rails 2ft high beneath which was a wire fence which had been installed due to liaison with Environmental Health officers from the local authority following an incident in 2003. Bourne leisure had also provided specific warnings about the ponds and emphasised the risks these posed to unsupervised children. It was alleged that an effective barrier should have been placed around the site, of about 1.1 metres high, as recommended by Royal Society for Prevention of Accidents in the case of domestic ponds, to prevent young children who might wander off unaccompanied from gaining access to the pond. The court found