More than £100,000 is set to be spent on boosting safety at ponds and boating lakes after a toddler drowned.

Two-year-old Alexander Clark died in June 2001 when he wandered out of an activity session at Littlehampton Sportsdome and fell into a boating lake in nearby Mewsbrook Park.

After his death Arun District Council commissioned a report from the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) into water features at all its parks and open spaces.

Many of the RoSPA recommendations are set to be implemented by the council, which has already voted to spend £73,000 at the lake.

Now councillors are being asked to spend another £35,000 on safety at other lakes in the district including Brookfield Park at Littlehampton and the boating lake at Hotham Park in Bognor.

Among measures proposed in a report are repairs to the bank at the edge of the Mewsbrook Park lake to prevent tripping, along with extended fencing around the boating area.

The package also includes more warning signs and planting vegetation around parts of the lake to deter people from going near the water.

The council will also repair self-rescue chains which people can use to haul themselves out of the water and create "safety points" where signs and lifesaving equipment, such as buoys, are combined.

The RoSPA report said one of the main factors in drownings was "uniformed or unrestricted access to a water hazard".

But councillors have been told by their officers: "While the hazard is acknowledged the magnitude of the risk needs to be taken into account.

"There are thousands of visitors to the park and there has been one drowning in 60 years. Such a loss of life is tragic for all concerned but the council needs to balance the risks when considering the appropriateness of any control measures."

The council's social scrutiny committee will discuss the extra cash at its meeting next Thursday.

A verdict of accidental death was recorded at an inquest into Alexander's death.

The child had been at an activity session with his mother Nasrin, of Granville Road, Littlehampton.

The coroner was told how the toddler was found 125 metres from the centre.