Brits planning a trip to the seaside should leave their unicorn inflatable at home or face life threatening-risks on the water, lifeboat chiefs have warned.
The pool rings, which have protruding necks and colourful manes, can act like sails when used on the sea, sweeping unsuspecting passengers dangerously away from the shore in seconds, according to the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI).
The colourful inflatables surged in popularity after England’s World Cup footballers were snapped splashing around and racing on them.
But while the footballers used them safely in a pool, others took them to the beach, adding to a record number of emergency call-outs by lifeboat crews.
The RNLI was involved in 479 sea rescues involving inflatables last year – nearly double the year before.
The organisation’s coastal safety manager Ross Macleod urged seaside-goers to ditch the unicorns, warning their use “could easily end in tragedy”.
“People don’t appreciate these simply aren’t designed for the sea,” he told The Sun.
In June, eight-year-old Declan O’Connor, from North Carolina, told of his terror when he floated out to sea in his own inflatable unicorn after being caught in a rip tide.
Declan said after his ordeal: “Now I know to never go out in a raft ever again in the ocean.
