were today warned that they were dicing with death on industrial sites after a seriously injured girl had to be rescued from a mill roof.

The child cut her leg and lost a lot of blood while playing at Imperial Mill, Liverpool Road, Burnley, yesterday afternoon.

Police, firefighters and paramedics were all involved in the effort to get her down from the two storey building. She was taken to Burnley General Hospital.

Today, firefighters praised her quick-thinking friends, who called an ambulance and flagged down a passing fire engine.

But they but warned of the dangers of playing in industrial buildings. And police said the owners of industrial premises should do all they could to stop youngsters getting in.

Fire brigade watch manager Dave Robinson said: "We were on another errand when a young lad stopped us. We'd had quite a few fires in there so we thought it might be that at first.

"We went to investigate and a girl was stuck on a roof with a severe cut to her leg. She'd lost quite a lot of blood. The children had already rang an ambulance so we used our emergency first aid equipment and tried to calm her down and then the paramedics arrived and took over. We used an aerial ladder platform to get her down safely.

"Kids are attracted to sites like that but accidents can happen and they can be quite serious, as this has proved. Her friends acted sensibly and were looking out for the ambulance but this was an unfortunate accident and children should be warned of the dangers of playing somewhere like that."

Around six children were at the scene of the accident and police said it was not the first time emergency services had been tied up dealing with youngsters stuck on the roof of Imperial Mill.

Insp Jeff Brown said: "The reality is, this is an ongoing problem. The owners of premises have a responsibility to prevent kids getting access to the roof. It's a disaster waiting to happen."

The site is owned by Nelson-based Barnfield Construction, which is in the process of renovating the old mill into industrial units. Only a few companies currently operate from the site.

The police's concerns were echoed by Burnley Council leader and Rosegrove with Lowerhouse councillor Stuart Caddy.

He said: "It is something the community's worried about and the council has talked to the developers and they have tried to get it safe. But children will be children and are getting into the mill in the evening. It's an accident waiting to happen.

"It's regrettable and I just hope the girl's alright. We need to send a clear message about the dangers to the children."