A YOUNG boy slipped and plunged down a 70-foot deep ravine while trying to collect a football - but was saved from serious injury when bushes broke his fall.

Steven Williams slid down the steep sides and became trapped next to the River Irwell at the bottom of The Glen, off Newchurch Road, Stacksteads.

Paramedics and the fire brigade used ladders and a stretcher to lift Steven, a pupil at Primet High School, Colne, to safety.

He sprained his ankle, and doctors also fear he may have injured his neck.

The police and a duty doctor were also called to the scene.

Station Officer Frank Murphy, of Bacup fire station, said: "It looks like he was playing football on the pitches at the top and he went after the ball.

"He was on the side of the gulley but he slipped and fell some of the way. He ended up on an embankment at the bottom, just above the river. "If he had been mobile he could have got himself out but because he'd hurt his ankle he was stuck there and couldn't move.

"He was very lucky that he didn't fall all the way down because the sides are very steep and it's very deep."

Steven, 12, of Mancknols Street, Nelson, was visiting his dad Andrew Williams, who lives in Stacksteads, over the weekend.

His eight-year-old brother Simon, who was also staying the weekend, was with Steven when the accident happened. Simon managed to climb back to the top and ran to tell his dad.

Steven's mum Ginette, who is divorced from Mr Williams, said: "They got down the banking to go after the ball and then they went along the river a bit before trying to climb back up again.

"They got stuck part way up and Steven slipped and slid down to the bottom. He was very tired and subdued last night but he seems to be OK."

Steven was taken to Burnley General Hospital and has been fitted with a surgical collar.

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