Boy, 5, falls down 8ft manhole after the cover left loose

A five-year-old boy fell down a 8ft manhole outside his home after the cover was left loose.

The youngster luckily landed on a ledge and escaped with minor bruising and small grazes, but is now suffering from nightmares, said his mum, Natalie Walton.

He was playing on a stretch of grass close to the family’s terraced house in Ilchester, Somerset on Sunday when the accident happened.

It’s believed he fell into the sewer after his seven-year-old friend was able to move the manhole cover, which was not bolted down.

A neighbour from across the road saw the accident and pulled the child from the drain.

Natalie, a 33-year-old youth worker, said: ‘It was terrifying.

‘We are very fortunate that he managed to land on a ledge and that it happened when the weather has been good or the drain would have been full.

‘He has nightmares, bless him, and he won’t walk on drain covers.’

Her son was then taken to a minor injury unit in Glastonbury to be checked over

Natalie said the boy, who she wants to keep anonymous, cannot swim, so a full drain would have posed a high risk.

She reported the faulty cover on the day of the accident and Wessex Water arrived at the property within an hour.

After assessing the drain cover, the workers left and returned the next morning to repair it.

But Natalie, who lives with her husband Shane, a soldier and three children, said she doesn’t feel the incident has been taken seriously enough because it wasn’t fatal.

She added: ‘There has been no accountability, it shouldn’t have happened in the first place.

‘What are they waiting for, another child to be injured?’

A Wessex Water spokesperson said: ‘This must have been distressing for the child involved and we’re sorry to hear he was hurt – we wish him a speedy recovery.

‘It’s unclear how the cover was damaged, but within an hour of it being reported we were there to investigate and make sure the area was safe.

‘The cover was then repaired the next day to prevent it happening again.’

In 2022, CCTV captured the horrifying moment an 18-month-old boy fell into a manhole due to a loose cover.

Amy Blyth was walking with her son Theo in Ashford, Kent when he suddenly dropped into the sewer.

He suffered mild concussion and was left covered in sewage but was thankfully otherwise okay.

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