Better safety measures at a mother-and-toddler group might have stopped a youngster wandering off and drowning, an inquest heard today.

Alexander Clark was found face-down in a boating lake after disappearing from Whizzkids activity group at Littlehampton Leisure Centre.

His mother Nasrin Clark told an inquest in Arundel how she only took her eyes off her son for a few seconds before realising that he had vanished.

A frantic search was launched to find the youngster, who had a fascination with water.

He died despite the efforts of leisure centre staff and paramedics to resuscitate him.

The inquest heard that the outer doors to the complex's Dome, the area used by the group, may have been left open.

Mrs Clark, a nursery teacher from Littlehampton, said the doors were stiff and, in her opinion, could not be opened by a two-year-old.

She told the inquest: "Alex was very sociable, very active and quite independent. He could walk very well. He was very inquisitive."

When Alexander disappeared, Mrs Clark began checking the centre and the area outside.

Other mothers quickly realised something was wrong and joined the search. One mother, Margaret Irvine, walked down to the boating lake, some 125 metres away, and spotted Alex in the water.

Anita Lamprell, in charge of the playgroup on the day of the tragedy in June, said she had overall control of the group but was not responsible for individual children.

It was her first time in charge, she told the inquest. She said she had no formal training for leading such sessions.

She said some mothers hooked open the outer doors to push prams through and might have left them open.

West Sussex coroner Roger Stone asked Mrs Lamprell: "If the doors were hooked back, they would not be checked as to whether they were open or shut?"

Mrs Lamprell said: "I would not want to leave the area because I am there to oversee the safety of the children."

She claimed Mrs Clark kept eye contact with her for the two minutes the pair were talking before Alex disappeared at around 11am on June 21.

Detective Inspector Paul Williams concluded that the boy's death had not resulted from gross negligence by the leisure centre staff, employed by Arun District Council.

But he made a list of measures he felt might have made it harder for a child to wander from the Dome and into the nearby boating lake.

They included more secure outer doors, with handles further from the ground; a clearer search procedure if a child disappeared; and clearer guidance over the extent of parental responsibility.

Commenting on the outer doors, Mr Williams said: "It would be my best guess that they would have been open based on the pressure required to open them and the accounts of other parents.

"It is impossible to say if any measures would have prevented this tragic incident".

The inquest jury returned a verdict of accidental death.

After the hearing Graham Roberts of the Health and Safety Executive, who launched a separate inquiry into the tragedy, urged all playgroups to conduct a risk assessment in order to decide what safety precautions were necessary.

He said: "It is very difficult to legislate for private individuals as many playgroups are often held in the front room of people's homes.

"The most important thing is for people to do a risk assessment.

"It is not always physical precautions that are needed. Sometimes it's a question of just having somebody on the door to a premises to ensure children cannot leave and others cannot enter."