A 15-YEAR-OLD boy has drowned after getting into difficulty while swimming in Chorley.

The teenager, who has been named as Tom Barton, was with five friends at a lodge near Birkacre Lodge, in Yarrow Valley Country Park, when the incident took place.

Many of the teenagers friends gathered at the gates of the country park waiting for news last night.

John Taylor, spokesman for Lancashire Fire and Rescue, said: “We had a report there were five youths and one had gone under the water and his friends were very distressed about it.

“They were stranded on a floating jetty in the middle of the lodge.

“Police, fire and ambulance turned up and the crews went into the water to search but did not find him alive sadly.”

Fire crews from Darwen, which is a water rescue unit, and Preston were also called to assist.

Crew manager Stuart Darby, said the rescue had been very upsetting.

He said: “We were involved in the recovery as well as assisting the police diving unit.

“It was very traumatic.”

Many of the teenagers friends gathered at the gates of the country park waiting for news last night.

The body was recovered at 11.10pm when it was pulled out of the water by the police under-water team.

The boy’s friends were rescued by the Bowland Pennine Mountain RescueTeam.