AN MP has called on council bosses to perform a U-turn on moves to stop seasonal swimmers.

Simon Kirby has called on Brighton and Hove City Council to reconsider its “draconian” plan to prevent swimmers taking to the sea for their traditional Christmas Day dip.

The authority announced earlier this month it would close parts of the beach in response to a swimmer getting into difficulty in October.

However, the Brighton Kemptown MP said the moves would only penalise “responsible swimmers” and has suggested a range of initiatives to make the event safer.

The council met with members of the Brighton Swimming Club before announcing extra measures to discourage swimmers from taking part in the club’s Christmas Day swim by closing the beaches around the Palace Pier.

Residents visiting the beach during the winter months are being advised by the council’s seafront office to stick to the promenade or high up on the beach away from the waves.

Mr Kirby has suggested a number of measures that could be considered to keep the decades-long tradition going, including using another stretch of the beach with a less steep gradient to make it easier and safer for people entering and leaving the water, moving the event to Boxing Day and scheduling the event to take place at low tide.

He said: “It does strike me as a case of health and safety gone slightly mad when what is needed is some common sense.

“I am not sure how practical it is to try to enforce such a ban anyway.

“Sadly, I suspect the council’s ban will not deter these people anyway and so it will only be the responsible swimmers that are penalised.

“I would rather see the council working with swimmers to ensure this popular community event can take place safely, rather than penalising everyone who may want to carry on the traditional swim.”

Council assistant chief executive Paula Murray said: “The Swimming Club initially called for the beach to be closed and they support this decision.”