Tombstoning children in Southsea are dicing with death warn South Parade Pier staff and RNLI lifeguards

Maintenance staff working at the Southsea attraction have issued a desperate appeal to young people to stop hurling themselves off the Victorian structure.

It comes after The News spent the afternoon in Southsea watching adults and teenagers plunging into the water from the pier.

Workers say the situation is becoming ‘a nightmare’ with visitors reporting a surge of intimidating behaviour and substance abuse by a small group of teenage yobs.

Kim Little, who is part of the maintenance team at South Parade Pier, feared the youngsters were dicing with death.

Speaking of the teens leaping from the pier, he told The News: ‘They are just a feral band of kids. Year on year, the problem is just getting worse.

‘The signs are everywhere – there’s a reason for it: you’re risking your life and being injured by jumping from the pier.

‘If you end up jumping down there and it’s only two metres deep, and you’re jumping 10 metres, there’s only one way that’s going to end – with you hitting the bottom.

‘But this isn’t just kids doing it. We have got 40 and 50-year-old men doing it as well. You would think they would know a little better.’

Anthony Basely, who is also part of the pier’s maintenance crew, added: ‘It’s a nightmare down there.’

Husband and wife duo Melanie and Marcus Everson travelled down from Aldershot to spend the day at South Parade Pier.

The pair saw five youngsters hurling themselves off the pier, smashing glass bottles on the pebbles and another group inhaling balloons filled with dangerous nitrous oxide.

Mum-of-five Melanie, 53, said: ‘The kids were effing and blinding and just being horrible. Next thing we know is one of them has picked a bottle up, launched it and smashed it on the beach. They were vile.’

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Marcus, 47, added: ‘They are just little brats who are out to do whatever they want no matter what the consequences are.

‘They are on the booze, being loud, using foul language in a family area. It makes people feel uncomfortable. They created this horrible atmosphere.’

Reckless tombstoners have also been criticised by the city’s team of RNLI lifeguards.

Tim Russell, senior lifeguard on Southsea beach, said: ‘They are distracting us from our job which is to protect people swimming between the flags. It takes our time and resources away.

‘These people need to think about the consequences. You don’t know what is underneath the water. There are shopping trollies down there and bits of the pier that you could really hurt yourself on.

‘There have been some horrific injuries in the past. It can be dangerous.’

Sonny Wells was left paralysed from the waist down after tombstoning off South Parade Pier in 2008.

Speaking to The News previously, he issued a stark warning, saying: ‘You need to think before you act. If it goes wrong then it will affect your life and everybody you know.’

Melanie added: ‘It’s dangerous, it’s stupid and I would have hoped they would have been brought up slightly better than that. Clearly not.

‘One of these days one of these kids is going to break their neck. It’s dangerous.’