THE family of a heroic Ramsbottom firefighter, who died trying to save a drowning teenager, has lost a battle to bring a prosecution against the fire service.

Sub-officer Paul Metcalf drowned in September 1999 when a dramatic operation to rescue 15-year-old Reyaz Ali from Simon's Lodge at Holcombe went tragically wrong.

After wading into the water, Mr Metcalf (40) got into difficulties when his safety line became snagged on an underwater branch. Colleagues made desperate efforts to pull him free but he remained trapped under water for around 15 minutes.

The part-time fireman, of Whalley Road, Shuttleworth, was eventually winched out by helicopter but he died on the way to hospital.

An inquest held into the tragedy heard how the fire service had only introduced new safety measures and guidelines for water rescue operations after Mr Metcalf's death. The recommendations had been included in a report several years before the incident but not acted upon.

Witnesses described events as "chaotic" and the inquest uncovered a catalogue of failures which led to the firefighter's death.

Now, Mr Metcalf's family have had their application for a High Court judicial review refused following a decision by the Crown Prosecution Service not to take action against the fire service.

His twin brother, Michel, said he was disappointed with the court ruling.

He said: "We wanted to prosecute the fire brigade as a whole and not against any individuals. We wanted the public to know that the fire service failed to act on a report, written three years before Paul's death, which suggested adopting new guidelines and buying specialist equipment to deal with water rescues.

"If they had acted on that report then Paul would still be here today."

Despite the High Court's decision, the fire brigade still face a prosecution brought by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).

Michel said: "The HSE were waiting for the result of our action before moving ahead with their own prosecution of the fire brigade. This can now go ahead in the new year."