Schoolboy rescued as headstone falls over

A boy had to be rescued by fire crews and school staff after he was trapped by a gravestone which toppled over in a Halesowen cemetery.

The 11-year-old was trapped between two gravestones as he tried to retrieve a ball from the graveyard at St Peter's Church.

Emergency crews say he was "extremely lucky" to escape with a gash to the head when a tombstone collapsed on top of him yesterday.

The boy is a pupil at neighbouring Cradley Church of England Primary School, in Church Road, Cradley.

Fire crews said he was playing football with pals in the school's playground when the ball was kicked over a wall into the graveyard. The boy went to retrieve it but slipped, grabbing a tombstone and pulling it over as he fell.

Crew Commander Stuart Wilkes, from Cradley Fire Station, said it could have been much worse. "Luckily there was just enough space between the gravestones so it didn't completely crush him," he said.

"A school caretaker and three other people had started to pull the gravestone off him by the time we arrived. It looked like he received a nasty gash to the head."

The Archdeacon of Dudley, the Ven Fred Trethewey said an investigation was underway into the incident. "I am very concerned to hear about this unfortunate incident, and my thoughts and prayers are with the boy's family."