A healthcare worker has spoken of her shock at seeing children playing by an icy pond - just days after four children died in a frozen lake.

Amanda De Feo was walking to work at the Royal Victoria Hospital in Folkestone this morning when she spotted two boys sitting on the edge of the fishing pond in Radnor Park.

The 37-year-old radiographer says she yelled at the pair, who she believes were aged about 10, when she saw one of them seemingly trying to stand on the thin ice sheet.

A mum of a teenage son, she says she couldn't bear the thought of a terrible accident that might rob another family of a child at Christmas.

Four children have now died following an incident at a frozen lake in Solihull, West Midlands, which saw the youngsters fall through the ice on Sunday.

Ms De Feo, of Marshall Street in Folkestone, said: "They were sitting with their feet dangling over the edge of the pond trying to kick the ice, trying to put their feet on the ice.

"Then one of them started to stand up and I was like, 'no, no, no!'

"He looked over at me and I was like 'get off that b***** ice' and they stood themselves up and ran off towards Cheriton Road.

"My heart was in my mouth.

"Honestly, I just thought what are these kids doing because that ice is not thick. You could not stand on that ice, even the ducks were cracking the ice standing on it. Very scary, very scary."

The two children Ms De Feo encountered this morning, at about 8.30am, were by the upper pond in Radnor Park where the ice tends to be thinner and melt sooner.

She says a colleague has seen other youngsters at the lower pond, where the ice is thicker, trying to walk on the frozen surface.

Posting about this morning's warning to the two boys on Facebook, she has been met with almost universal support for saying something rather than simply walking on by.

She said: "I've got a young lad, he's only 14, and we've obviously been watching the news about what's happened up in Solihull over the last few days.

"I gave my boy a big cuddle yesterday morning before he went to school. He asked what that was for, I said 'because I get to spend Christmas with you this year'.

"There's four families that are not going to have their kids this year.

"I was like 'please don't be a fool, don't do what your pals do, just don't be foolish'. I hope some parents have words with their children."

A spokesman for Folkestone and Hythe District Council said: "Frozen water can pose great danger as we have sadly seen in Solihull this week.

"The Royal Life Saving Society UK has published useful advice - such as keeping away from the edges of ponds and lakes - and we would encourage residents to read it."