RESCUE teams have warned teenagers to stay away from quarries after a teenager fell almost five metres (17 feet).

Pendle Mountain and Rescue team stretchered a 13-year-old boy to safety after he fell down Pinner Quarry in Crawshawbooth.

Team leader Andy Simpson and 10 members spent an hour getting the teenager to safety after he broke his leg and suffered spinal injuries.

It is believed the teenager fell from the edge of the quarry after a boulder became dislodged.

Fire, police and the ambulance attended the scene of the accident at 6.30pm on Tuesday.

Andy Simpson, who was involved in the successful rescue, warned youngsters against playing in quarries. He said: "It's not safe for kids to be climbing without protection.

"There are lots of local places where youngsters can go and learn to climb safely. This doesn't look like the type of quarry that people would use for rock climbing.

"It was just a young lad having fun with his mates and it went wrong. He was at the bottom of the quarry and when we got there he was conscious. It was relatively easy but the quarry is a mile away from the road and that's why we were called.

"We are the best service for this kind of accident where access is difficult. We have a stretchers that can be lowered over cliff edges whereas the normal ambulance stretcher is totally unsuitable for this."

The teenager was taken to hospital by ambulance.

The Haslingden-based Pendle team, funded entirely by voluntary donations, deals with two to three quarry climbing accidents per year.

Mr Simpson said: "The last one I attended, the bloke had not fallen that far but broke both legs."