A warning to children about the danger of playing in the 26 working quarries in Herefordshire and Worcestershire has been issued by the Quarry Products Association.

The association said members, including Bromsberrow Sand & Gravel, RMC Aggregates at Ryall and Smiths Construction at Perton, did all they could to deter people from entering but warning signs were often ignored.

Children have been known to make caves, use the quarry terrain for motorcycling, play on dangerous machinery and swim in deep and cold lakes.

The association is also aware of problems in quarries not owned by members, such as Gullet Quarry, which is owned by Malvern Hills Conservators. A 17-year-old college student from Gloucester, Yunus Ismail Moolla, died at the quarry in July 2001 after getting into difficulties while swimming.

Another Gloucester man, Clifford James, drowned at the same place in July 1995 while celebrating his 25th birthday with friends.

"We survey our quarry managers and we know one of the main problems with young people at the moment is people coming in and riding trail bikes on sand and gravel sites," said the association's Elizabeth Clements.

"But we're also very aware of Gullet Quarry because what happened there had national coverage. Although it's a disused site belonging to the Conservators we were alerted to that."

The association has launched a Play Safe . . . Stay Safe resource pack to back up its school holiday warning.

Malvern Hills Conservators' wardens are being sent copies of the pack and will be handing out leaflets to visitors across the Malvern Hills, including Gullet Quarry, over the coming weeks.

Director Ian Rowat reported that Gullet Quarry was used widely by the public over the warm weekend but there were no safety problems.

He said, despite warning signs being up in such areas and advice given out by wardens, responsibility for acting safely was largely down to people themselves.