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According to Maritime and Coastguard Agency figures, there have been at least 232 tombstoning incidents since 2004, with 71 serious injuries. The craze – called after the bolt upright style many jumpers try to adopt – has also claimed 20 lives. The youngest was 15, the oldest, 47.

Among the deaths was Darrell Teal, of Manchester, who had been tombstoning off Devil's Bridge at Kirkby Lonsdale with a group of friends on July 21, 2012. Teal was knocked unconscious after hitting the cold water and failed to resurface. At an inquest into his death in November, South and East Cumbria coroner Ian Smith warned of the dangers of jumping from the bridge. But the tombstoners know the risks; they just don't care.

Hough, who graduated with a 2:1 from the University of Cumbria, jumped off Devil's Bridge last summer, too, a week before Teal was killed.

"When I heard about his death, it did take me back at first," he says, standing on the steep, jagged limestone pavement that juts down to the River Lune. "It was only a week after I had jumped here. But it hasn't put me off at all. And it's a really nice day.

"It is about pushing your body to the limit and testing it. I was scared when I was up standing there on the bridge. It's the anxiety of not knowing how you are going to hit the water. But you just jump and hope for the best. I think it's becoming a bigger craze."

Henry Stewart, 27, of nearby Lancaster, is also basking on the rocks after pulling off a successful jump. This is despite an acquaintance recently breaking his back leaping off the bridge into the water, which can be up to 30ft deep. The day I visit, it is just 20ft.

"I suppose the fun outweighs the risks," he says. "I was just walking past the bridge and thought, why not? My feet didn't touch the bottom. I've done bungee jumping before, but this is definitely different. It is really scary."

South Lakeland District Council has implemented a bye-law banning people from jumping off the Grade-I listed bridge, as well as erecting signs warning of death and serious injury. Police also regularly patrol the bridge in hot weather. The maximum penalty is a fine of £500, but officers have little real power. The moment they leave, people jump. Cumbria Police says a "collective" approach is needed. Residents and daytrippers are urged to help by pointing out the risks to tombstoners.

The day I visit, many of the tourists are retirees or people with young families enjoying the views from the bridge, which was built by monks from St Mary's Abbey in York. They cannot do much to stop the powerfully built young men climbing quickly up on to the bridge and throwing themselves off without warning.

"I think there are probably more than a thousand jumping in Cumbria in a year alone, and particularly at Devil's Bridge, because it is easily accessible," says Ben Berry, a 25-year-old Conservative councillor on South Lakeland District Council, who has been tombstoning since he was a child (although never on Devil's Bridge). In 2011, Berry shattered his femur and kneecap jumping into a river while canyoning [clambering along rocky outcrops] in Scotland, and spent 10 days in hospital. He continues to walk with a limp and has not jumped since, but refuses to criticise others who do.

"The typical jumper is 16 to 25, and male," he says. "They do it for the exhilaration, and, depending on the site, peer pressure and ego come into it as well. It gives you a rush and there is danger involved with an adrenaline rush. For the most part, if people do it safely in safe places, then that is OK. But Devil's Bridge is not a safe place."

According to Berry, a ban on jumping would be ineffective at the bridge. He says instead, individuals need to take responsibility for themselves while being given the best information on the risks. But as this latest heatwave has already shown, the tombstoners have little regard for themselves.

There is an old local legend attached to the bridge – that it was built in one night by the Devil in exchange for the soul of the first person who crossed it. The waters beneath have claimed numerous lives since, including in 1823 when a London-bound mail coach overturned, tipping its passengers out. Despite the latest tombstoning tragedy, Devil's Bridge may well not have claimed its last soul yet.