Windermere Boat Deaths: Engine Investigated

A faulty boat generator may have been responsible for the deaths of a mother and her daughter from suspected gas poisoning.

Kelly Webster, 36, and her daughter Lauren Thornton, 10, from Leyland in Lancashire, died after eating lunch on the 25ft cruiser during an Easter holiday trip.

Cumbria Police said that "all signs" indicated that carbon monoxide poisoning was responsible for the deaths and said they were looking at a potential fault with a generator fitted to the boat's engine.

Mrs Webster and her daughter were regular visitors to the area along with her partner, Matthew Eteson, who owned the boat, and had arrived at the lake on Easter Sunday.

On Monday, the three took the boat out and moored at Bowness before going to get some lunch then returning to eat it and falling asleep.

Emergency services were called at 4pm and paramedics tried to save the mother and daughter, who were air lifted to Royal Lancaster Infirmary, but they died in the hospital.

Mr Eteson, 39, who is the director of Preston Energi, a heating and plumbing company, was also taken to hospital for treatment and has since been released.

Detective Inspector Mike Brown, of Cumbria Police, said they were investigating whether the generator, which was added to the boat after manufacture, was the cause of the tragedy.

He said: "We cannot fully establish with any degree of certainty that that is the cause of any gas leak but that certainly looks to be a possibility.

"So we are looking at that and how that has been fitted and looking at it with experts that know how these things work and what could potentially go wrong."

A number of floral tributes have been left outside Mrs Webster's Leyland home and messages have been posted on Facebook.

David Hampson posted: "Our thoughts are with the family and friends of Matt, Kelly and Lauren, what a tragedy, they had such happy plans for their future together.

"To think a £20.00 CO monitor would have saved their lives. I will buy one today."

Ross Bullough wrote: "God bless Kelly and Lauren, rest in peace such a shame. And Matt we are all hoping you get better soon."

Josh Kynaston, who witnessed the emergency response, said crews had spent some time trying to locate the boat on the jetty.

He said: "They were trying to find the problem boat. Once they had found it, all the medics were out, all the fire brigade, all the police and they were trying to get to them as soon as possible because they knew straight away what what up, that they knew there was a problem with some gas leakage."

Boat Safety Scheme, a public safety organisation, said: "Each year boaters die or are made seriously ill from carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning. Boats are built to keep water out, but this also makes them good containers for gases and fumes."

The Katie Haines Memorial Trust says up to 50 people are killed and more than 4,000 people diagnosed with carbon monoxide poisioning in the UK each year.