Signs of common sense

The National Trust is not liable for the death of a man who drowned when swimming in one of its ponds, the Court of Appeal found.

Overturning a lower court, it said that the National Trust did not have a duty to warn against the dangers of drowning.

In the earlier decision, the claimant's expert said the pond was unsuitable for swimming and a swimming prevention strategy should have been in place.

But defendant lawyers Hextall Erskine successfully argued that the logical extension of this argument is that the entire coastline and all inland water sites would have to have “No swimming” signs, and every tree would require a “Don't climb” sign underneath it.