One of the great eccentric traditions of Brighton is the Christmas Day swim from the Albion beach near the Palace Pier.

On a fine winter’s morning, up to a hundred swimmers will brave the chilly water while perhaps another thousand will watch them from the prom and groynes.

Although the event is not advertised, many people in Brighton know that the swimmers take the plunge promptly at 11am.

But this Christmas, there will be no swim, no fun and no jollity. The powers that be in their wisdom have decided to shut down the beach so that no one can get into the sea.

They say the event has become too big for its own good and that there is a serious risk of people getting into difficulty or even drowning as a result.

Cases have been cited of someone drowning in Hastings this winter and of more than one incident outside the swimming season in Brighton.

There are concerns that some swimmers may be drunk although I can’t imagine many reaching that state as early as 11am.

The event is part of Brighton Swimming Club’s tradition and is famous throughout the country. There are plenty of other festive swims but none as big or brash as the dip by the Palace Pier.

I was a member of Brighton Swimming Club for more than 30 years and its press officer for a decade. I’ve taken part in the Christmas Day swim for more years than I care to recall.

During all that time no one has drowned and I have never seen anyone get into trouble. It has been a fun event which has largely policed itself.

When I swam at Christmas I never saw a lifeguard as it was the closed season for them. But I entered the water knowing that among the other club members were some of the most experienced sea swimmers in the country.

Not only did these men have lifesaving qualifications but they also knew more than anyone about the effects of very cold water on people.

Because they went into the sea nearly every day no matter what the weather was like, these men could stay in the water for surprisingly long periods.

The doyen of them all, Jim Wild, when 75 years old swam round the Palace Pier on New Year’s Day without any help and with the water temperature at 7 degrees. He suffered no ill effects and kept on swimming until his death aged more than 90.

I have stayed in the water myself on Christmas Day for more than ten minutes, even taking part some years in special races.

Sometimes the sea is too rough for swimming and on those days people either abandon their dips or just get wet on the water’s edge.

If you have ever watched the event, you will note that few people stay in the water for long and most do not even go out of their depth.

Brighton beach does not have wicked currents such as those prevalent in Cornish coves or many other West Country beaches.

On a windy day the sea can carry you along the coast but seldom if ever out to sea. Mostly it deposits you with a bang on the shingle.

Ian Shurrock, the city council’s head of sport, says swimmers not only put their own lives at risk but also the lives or those rescuing them.

No doubt it would be easier for lifeguards if no one went for a swim in the same way as police often advise people in bad weather not to go outdoors. There is always a risk of some kind in pursuing any activity but there is even more risk with inactivity.

Officials will cordon off one small stretch of beach on Christmas morning. But there will be nothing to stop swimmers going to the beaches on either side or to any other beach that forms part of the city’s seven miles of coastline.

If there is any danger, it will be far greater in these impromptu, unsupervised swims than there would have been at the big event.

I am disappointed to read that the club itself supports the ban because part of its appeal has been the adventure involved in sea swimming.

What next? It would be easy to find reasons for doing away with the pier-to-pier swimming race held every July.

I don’t know if it still exists but another traditional Christmas Day event in Brighton has been the cricket match between Noel Bennett’s XI and a team called Yule Logs.

It would be only too easy to find reasons why this crazy cricket match and others like it elsewhere should be banned on health and safety grounds.

People should be allowed to take part in the seasonal swim at their own risk and without the presence of lifeguards. Stopping it after so many years has taken a little bit of the joy out of Christmas.