THE inquest into the death of London teenager Kajil Devi, who drowned at Cotswold Country Park and Beach in August 2010, has heard conflicting reports from lifeguards who were on duty at the time.

It was new lifeguard Benedict Newman’s third day at the park and he told Gloucestershire Assistant Deputy Coroner Tom Osborn he had not been given any health and safety briefings.

He said he was concerned at the number of people in the water and the fact that there were only two lifeguards. He estimated that there were 150 people in the water at its busiest that day but he did not voice his concerns to the manager.

"I thought there should be three lifeguards on duty when the number of swimmers exceeded 90," he said.

"I did not think only two lifeguards should have to look after more than 100 people in the water. There were three on duty, but one was at the boating area not at the beach."

His evidence was at odds with that of another lifeguard Matt Williams, who unlike Mr Newman, still works at the water park and is now the chief lifeguard.

About half way through the afternoon he thought there were about half the number of people in the water that would be its full capacity, he said, adding that this was about 60 people so the two lifeguard were sufficient.

However, he was not aware of any written emergency procedure at the time that the 15-year-old drowned he said although he believed there was one.

"I was not aware that we should clear people out of the water during an incident like this," he said.

He said there was no head lifeguard at the time, and those on duty would do all the checking of equipment and other jobs between them, but his colleagues would look to him for advice when they needed to because he was the most experienced.

The coroner was told today that outdoor public locations and venues where large numbers of people gather should make sure the emergency services know their exact location.

Speaking at the inquest paramedic Kevin Dickens said a grid reference, which pinpointed an exact spot, was the only accurate way for ambulances and other emergency services to get to the right place quickly. Postcodes in such areas were much too vague he said, and were not much good.

Kajil, from South Road, Feltham in Middlesex was pronounced dead the day after she was pulled from the water at the Cotswold Water Park on August 11, 2010.

The inquest was told that an ambulance took 26 minutes to get there after Kajil was found.

Safety procedures at the park have been significantly improved since her death the coroner was told - before her death two lifeguards were expected to manage the beach with up to 90 people in the water but since then the maximum for two lifeguards has been reduced to 60 swimmers.

Regular visitor Rachel Lewis said it was the busiest she had ever seen it that day and time was taken after the ambulance arrived to move people out of the way so that it could get to the beach.

Catering manager Suzanne Higgs said there was no provision in the park’s emergency plan for the air ambulance to land, and although a space was cleared for it, it eventually landed elsewhere.

The inquest continues next week.