A DISTRAUGHT gran has paid tribute to her "precious" grandson who drowned at a "Twilight Zone" lake where three others have been killed.

Dawn Cunningham is calling for Bawsey Pits near King’s Lynn, Norfolk, to be shut down after Radek Gina, 20, got into difficulty on one of the hottest days of the year.

Paramedics rushed to the beauty spot on June 16 when temperatures soared, but Radek was sadly pronounced dead at the scene.

Speaking to The Sun Online after the tragedy, Dawn described him as "the most precious boy ever".

She said: "He was well-loved, a good-looking, handsome boy with a lovely girlfriend.

"He was never moody, always smiling. He was just a beautiful boy and now our beautiful boy is gone."

Dawn said Radek loved football and snooker and "everybody loved him".

"He was a lovely lad. You see the good and bad in everybody but Radek was loved by all," she added.

The 69-year-old is now calling for the lake to be closed as people "treat it like Ibiza".

She said: "There are raves there at weekends and lots of kids go. But there are also families and children.

"You see pictures of it and you'd think you were in Ibiza.

"Young people go there because they are not bothered by anyone too much, they can do what they want.

"But I now call it a hell hole, not a nature walk, it's like the Twilight Zone.

"People were swimming in the pit even while they were getting my grandson out."

She continued: "How many more have to drown before something is done? They reckon it's 100ft deep in the middle and freezing cold.

"There are notices up saying 'no swimming', they are huge. But when you're 20 years old, you think you'll be alright."

'HELL HOLE'

Dawn said until recently, the Bawsey Country Park website featured images of people in the water – making it look like "such a beauty spot where you can cool down and take children".

"It all looks so inviting, a cheap day out. They shut it down 10 years ago but then reopened it. Why?

"Loads of people have died or gotten into trouble in it. It's not a beach, it's an old working pit."

The park remains open but police are investigating the circumstances surrounding his death, which follows at least three others at Bawsey Pit in the last eight years.

In August 2020, Kristers Bednarskis, from Peterborough, drowned while celebrating his 22nd birthday with friends at the lake.

And in 2013, a boy, 16, from east London, and a 41-year-old man also drowned at the pits.

About 150 of Radek's family and friends gathered to pay tribute to him at the lake the night after his death.

Dawn's daughter, partner and two nieces were among the mourners who made their way down to the water to lay flowers in the rain.

One of the girls slipped "very badly" and was "in agony" after breaking her arm in four places.

Dawn reckons the "uneven and slippery ground" just adds to the danger of the area.

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