HUNDREDS of people watched an emotive campaign film aimed at raising awareness of the dangers of York’s rivers within 24 hours of its launch.

By noon yesterday, 325 people had visited The Press website and You Tube to see our Think Don’t Swim film and that figure reached over 700 by last night.

The film was also last night set to be featured on both ITV regional news programme Calendar and BBC’s Look North.

Yorkshire radio station Capital Fm also discussed The Press’s campaign on their day programme yesterday and the film is also set to be featured on dedicated websites for North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue, North Yorkshire Police and the city’s two universities, who have all backed our campaign to deter people from jumping into the Ouse and Foss.

Alan Bell, York station manager for North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue, said the message of Think, Don’t Swim had already been driven home during induction talks with more than 5,000 students at York’s two universities.

He said of the film: “I think it exactly what we need. It has a hard-hitting message, but also a hopeful one as it will hopefully prevent another tragedy.”

The seven minute film is a combination of a fictional dramatisation showing a couple who meet in a nightclub then decide to go skinny dipping in the River Ouse, with tragic consequences, together with a poignant interview with the family of Richard Horrocks, the 21-year-old bartender whose death sparked the campaign.

Other interviewees in the seven minute film by Christopher David, of York-based Flash Frame Productions, included former York coroner’s officer Ian Gillies who spoke about his experiences in dealing with bodies in the rivers.