THE mother of an eight-year-old who escaped with only five stitches after impaling her leg on a garden fence is calling for a ban on metal railings.

Nicole Launders, of Bury Road, Radcliffe, was playing with her ten-year-old brother, Lee, and cousins Jamie-Lee and Dominic Ball, aged nine and seven, when the accident happened.

The youngsters were playing football near Nicole's uncle's home in Wilton Gardens, Radcliffe, when the ball went over a neighbour's fence into the front garden.

Instead of using the gate, as the children had been previously told by the neighbours, Nicole climbed over the wall, which is topped by two-foot metal railings, and slipped, impaling her right leg on a four-inch spike.

Her uncle, Kenny Ball was immediately at the scene, holding Nicole up to prevent any further damage.

He said: "It looked a lot worse than it was, luckily. I held Nicole until the fire brigade arrived to cut her free. I must have held her for about half an hour and my arms went numb, but I didn't want to let anyone take over as I had her in a good position and any movement could have increased the damage.

"Nicole was very brave and didn't cry at all, she just kept saying 'I love you Uncle Kenny' but she was frightened of having to have her leg cut off."

Nicole, pictured walking with the aid of sticks following her ordeal, was rushed to Fairfield Hospital in Bury. The four-inch railing, which was two inches wide at the base, just missed muscles and caused only superficial damage. Nicole escaped with five stitches and was home within a few hours.

Her mum, Gillian Clegg, was horrified to see her daughter impaled on the fence and believes metal railings should be banned.

She said: "I ran round in my bare feet and was in a state of shock when I saw her. I thought it had gone right through.

"Those type of railings should be banned, they are so dangerous. Nicole was very fortunate, but another child might not be so lucky."

Nicole said: "It hurt, but I didn't cry. Next time I will go through the gate and I would tell other children to do the same."