The owners of a caravan park have been fined £234,000 for health and safety breaches after the death of a boy found at the bottom of a swimming pool.

Aidan Yule or Sands, from Dundee, was spotted at the bottom of the pool at the Red Lion Caravan Park in Arbroath, Angus, in June 2011.

The six-year-old Mill o' Mains Primary School pupil was unconscious when he was dragged out of the water but he died at Ninewells Hospital four days later.

He was at the pool with his family when his head slipped under the water unnoticed. CCTV showed he was spotted at the bottom of the pool less than a minute later.

Loch Earn Caravan Parks Ltd of Errol, which owns the Red Lion site, admitted breaching health and safety legislation over the death. The owners were fined £234,000 at Forfar Sheriff Court on Thursday.

The company failed to ensure, as was reasonably practicable, persons who were not employed were not exposed to risks to their health and safety between July 1, 2007, and June 18, 2011.

It also failed to make a suitable and sufficient assessment of the risks to members of the public when using the swimming pool there and failed to provide sufficient measures to ensure the safety of all members of the public using the swimming pool.

In particular, company failed to ensure there was adequate supervision of those using the swimming pool and failed to provide sufficient information, instruction and training to their employees to ensure safe procedure were being followed.

The court heard no risk assessment had been carried out and little consideration had been given to the potential risks to the public in relation to the use of the swimming pool.

Staff had not received adequate training on safety procedures such as monitoring those using the pools, ensuring pool rules were enforced or responding to accidents or emergencies.

Gary Aitken, head of the health and safety division at the Crown Office, said: "The measures that Loch Earn put in place were insufficient to ensure, so far as was reasonably practicable, the safety of members of the public using its pool.

"The presence of a lifeguard on duty at the poolside would have reduced the likelihood of the incident occurring and the failure to have lifeguards in place is a significant factor in the incident and the resulting tragic death of a six-year-old boy.

"Hopefully this sad incident will remind other pool operators that failure to fulfil their obligations in law can have tragic consequences and that they will be held to account for their failings.

"Pool operators need to read the relevant guidance and ensure that their safety arrangements match legal requirements."

Brian Castle, a partner at Digby Brown Solicitors' Dundee office, which represents a number of members of Aidan's family, said: "It is over five years since the tragic events which led to Aidan's death.

"Since that day, his family have sought answers to the many questions they have about what happened.

"It has been a long and difficult road. They have had little access to information while the possibility of criminal proceedings remained open.

"This guilty plea is a belated one but it does provide some considerable comfort to the family to learn that the caravan park operator is now accepting responsibility for Aidan's death.

"It is an immense relief that they will not have to relive the tragedy at a criminal trial.

"The family are hopeful of resolving the ongoing civil legal proceedings arising from the tragedy soon before trying to move on with their lives."

Loch Earn Caravan Parks Limited declined to comment.