British boy, 4, drowns in swimming pool at Spain holiday resort

A four-year-old British boy has drowned in a swimming pool in a Spanish holiday resort.

The youngster died at around 9pm local time (8pm BST) on Sunday at a house in Mijas on the Costa del Sol, a spokesman for Ayuntamiento de Mijas, the area's local authority, confirmed.

He added that 20 people were at the property when the child drowned.

Emergency services arrived at the scene but the boy could not be saved.

A post mortem examination will be carried out.

The incident occurred in the Mijas Golf resort in Las Lagunas, Mijas.

According to Spanish newspaper Diario Sur, the boy's parents were having dinner with friends when he fell into the pool as he was running around with older children at the back of the property.

A 15-year-old boy sounded the alarm, the report added.

A Foreign Office spokesman said: "We can confirm the death of a British national in Spain on 16 August.

"We are in contact with local authorities and have provided the family with advice on bereavement abroad, including on repatriation."

The death comes almost exactly a year after a Scottish toddler drowned in a pool in Mijas.

Two-year-old Theo Lamb reportedly fell into a neighbour's pool next to his family's property on August 18 last year.

Local media reported that his father, Duncan Lamb, originally from Uddingston, South Lanarkshire, discovered the boy in the water.