Five young girls were dramatically rescued from a swimming pool after getting into difficulty at a children's birthday party.
Concerned onlookers called 999 after the youngsters struggled to safety in the deep end of the pool at Waddon Leisure Centre on Saturday afternoon.
The girls - four aged nine and one aged seven - were examined by paramedics but not taken to hospital.
But their angry parents fear the outcome could have been much worse - and have questioned the centre's safety measures.
Adreen Mbken, 42, said her nine-year-old daughter Ayeesha had been sailing on a float with a friend when she collided with other girls, causing them all to fall in.
Ms Mbken, of Wellesley Road, said: "When we arrived we noticed that the pool was a bit deep so we said to the girls not to go up the far end, but they got carried away with their friends.
"I realised they had floated up the deep end and ran to tell them to come back, but one child jumped onto the float my little girl was on and everyone went into the water. It was chaos.
"I am grateful nothing worse came of it."
Waddon Leisure Centre
The girls, some of whom were not strong swimmers, were pulled out by parents and lifeguards.
Colin Irvin, 47, of Byrne Road, Thornton Heath, whose nine-year-old daughter Tia fell underwater, said: "There was no cordon so there was nothing to stop them going up to the deep end. My daughter swallowed a lot of water.
"If there is a party there, with primary school children, they need to cordon off the pool to stop them going up to the deep end."
Tia's twin sister Tanya was also at the paty, but not in the pool at the time.
Mr Irvin, who had been celebrating a cousin's birthday in Bristol so was not at the swimming pool, said the centre's manager had admitted the incident was "alarming".
A spokeswoman for Fusion, which runs the leisure centre, said: "We can confirm that an incident took place at Waddon Leisure Centre on July 27.
"A child who appeared to be in distress was assisted by the lifeguards and helped to the side of the pool."
A London Ambulance Service spokeswoman confirmed it had sent one crew to the leisure centre at 4.33pm on Saturday.
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