about the dangers of cliff diving after a photograph of the pastime appeared in yesterday's Royal Gazette .

Assistant Director of Parks Mr. Bill Cook said that park rangers and lifeguards had spent the entire summer telling people not to take such chances.

"We are very concerned about the photo,'' he said. "Cliff diving is a very serious concern of ours.'' Mr. Cook said there had been numerous cases of such exploits ending in paralysing spinal and neck injuries. This year, two people sustained broken legs jumping from high cliffs.

Despite a "No diving'' sign on the rocks at Horseshoe Bay, Mr. Cook said that lifeguards were constantly swimming out to warn bathers of the dangers. While some people took the lifeguards' advice, many decided to continue diving anyway.

He added that the department even got a postcard depicting such activities pulled from a local company's stock in an effort to diminish it's allure.

Another critic of the photograph, Mrs. Denise Hansford-Smith, said she was upset by the photo. Her son Jason is a senior lifeguard with the government.

"He's back at university now, but if he were here to see this, I know he would be very upset as well.'' she said.

Calling the picture "inappropriate'', Mrs. Hansford-Smith said that there were enough seriously injured people already because of cliff diving, and that the country didn't need any more.

Mrs. Pat Harney, who works at the Visitors Service Bureau at Dockyard, was "speechless'' when she saw the photograph.

"My son nearly got killed doing that. I was expecting a write-up about how dangerous it was. Adults shouldn't encourage this kind of thing.'' Mrs. Harney's son, Nicholas, was pulled unconscious from the waters off Horseshoe Bay last year after striking his head on the sea bottom. Luckily, he sustained no permanent injuries from the accident.