A TEENAGER was taken to hospital after plunging 20ft into the River Calder in Burnley.

The boy, who is believed to be 15, broke his ankle when he fell from a bridge, rolled down an embankment and into the river near Berwick Drive, Stoneyholme.

Fortunately, the water was only a foot deep and he was able to get out himself out.

His friends called the emergency services after he was unable to get up the embankment because of the pain in his ankle. Fire and ambulance crews attended the scene at 4.45pm yesterday and pulled the youth up the embankment on a spinal board. He was taken to Burnley General Hospital.

Station Officer Paul Harvey from Burnley Fire Station said: "Luckily, at this time of the year the water is only about a foot deep and, had it been deeper, the circumstances could have been a lot worse.

"He was also fortunate in that he fell feet first. Had he fallen differently, his injuries have been more serious.

"I have not spoken directly to the youth, so we are not completely clear how this has happened."

Resident Angela Taylor, 38, who lives in Berwick Drive, arrived home from work just after 5pm to find emergency services, including the fire brigade's Incident Support Unit, at the scene.

She said: "It is a quiet cul-de-sac and it was obvious there was some sort of incident because there were fire crews around and the ambulance was there.

"There was a lot of activity but nobody seemed to know what was going on.

"The paramedics went down to the river but could not rescue him so the fire crews went down and brought him up at on a long board. He had a neck brace on.

"I have not seen any of them before but they didn't look like bad kids and they were all really concerned for their friend."