Inquest hears of desperate attempts to save pair who drowned at High Eske lake

• Video report by Helen Steel

The father of one of two young men who died shortly after they were filmed paddling in a lake has urged others to avoid swimming in open water.

Nineteen-year-old Elvicia Neels and Muhammed Batchilly, 21, drowned when they tried swimming to an island at High Eske Nature Reserve, near Beverley in East Yorkshire, on 24 May last year.

An inquest heard they were among a group of seven friends who went to bathe in the lake on what was an unusually hot evening.

Mobile phone footage shared with ITV News shows them dancing and singing in the water minutes before the tragedy.

Speaking after a coroner recorded a conclusion of misadventure, Mr Neels' father Elvis Jeremiah said: "All I can say to the young kids out there is please avoid going to open waters. It might be tempting with sun shining, but the temperatures are very cold."

The inquest heard the water in the lake would have been extremely cold, despite the weather, with a temperature of around 6C at the bottom.

Four of the friends managed to get to the island without difficulty, but Mr Neels and Mr Batchillyy began to struggle around 20m from safety.

Despite the best efforts of their friends, the pair, who were both from Hull, could not be saved.

In a statement read to the court, one of the friends said: “When I got to Neels I grabbed him from behind and put one of my arms under his armpits.

"I tried to hold him up and swim backwards towards the islands. Neels was flapping his arms around and panicking and I couldn’t reason with him."

Police divers recovered the two bodies around two hours later in an area almost 3m deep.

Mr Jeremiah said: "It was a brilliant lovely day, they were all having a lovely time. Nobody could ever have known that was going to happen.

"I'm so thankful that they did try their best. but it was so sad - the waters were so deep. It is awful, it's devastating and I wouldn't wish this on any family."

The lake already had signs warning against swimming.

Two throw lines have since been installed, along with more signs.

Paying tribute to Mr Batchilly, his brother Muhammed Bojang said: "Pretty much he's the best big brother you could ask for. He was a very good listener. They were so young and had so much potential."