Stourport Basin death

A BOY died after he fell into a lock at Stourport Basin on the Staffs & Worcs Canal on Friday, after he lost his balance whilst riding over a lock footbridge.

He went under the water, with a spokesman stating that the lock had to be drained to enable the emergency services to discover the boy, and retrieve his body, Alan Tilbury tells us.

Low parapet

This was at the narrow lock bridge before the Severn, that is used for locking, and has a low parapet.  The 14 years old boy, named Robbie, was riding with another boy at the time.

He was in the water for about half an hour, and though attempts were made to resuscitate him, he was pronounced dead after he was airlifted to Birmingham Children's Hospital.

Mark Mills, a supervisor for British Waterways, was at the scene yesterday afternoon as police and health and safety teams investigated the accident.