A FIREMAN lost his life needlessly attempting to recover a body from a dangerous lodge, an inquest heard.

Sub-officer Paul Metcalf (pictured, right), of Whalley Road, Shuttleworth, died a year ago today as a result of a rescue operation to recover the body of 15-year-old Reyaz Ali from Simon's Lodge in Holcombe Brook (pictured).

A team of top legal experts, including the Paddington rail crash barrister Mr Gerald Forlin who is acting on behalf of the Fire Brigade Union, are monitoring the inquest as the union considers whether to press for criminal prosecution against Greater Manchester County Fire Brigade.

On the first day of the hearing into the deaths, questions were asked about why the fire brigade launched a major rescue operation to find the student despite reports that his body had been submerged under the water for more than 30 minutes.

Coroner Mr Barrie Williams and a jury of six women and four men heard how on that fateful day, student Reyaz from Darul Uloom College in Holcombe and a number of fellow students had broken "college rules" to go swimming in the out-of-bounds Simon's Lodge.

Fisherman Jason Jones from Haslingden said on September 5 and 24 hours earlier, the same group of young lads had been swimming and diving into the popular but dangerous lodge.

He said: "On the Saturday I heard the boys screaming for help, saying someone was drowning. They were joking and, after the first few calls, I took very little interest in their activities.

"A day later, I think the same group of Asian boys returned because they were shouting out the same pleas for help." When he realised something was wrong on the Sunday, Mr Jones, who responded to public appeals to come forward as a witness, said he approached two teenagers and swore at them to ensure they weren't joking about their friend missing in the water.

"I was given three different locations as to the boy's whereabouts in the water and, therefore, I decided not to go into the lake to find him. It was too dangerous," said Mr Jones.

A paramedic crew was first on the scene quickly followed by fire fighters and police. The first rescue attempt occurred "in excess of 30 minutes" of Reyaz being underwater, Greater Manchester County Fire Brigade's legal representative, Lady Ruth Trippier, conceded.

Witness Geoffrey Unsworth said he had pulled youngsters from Simon's Lodge before, as it was regularly used as a swimming pool during warm weather.

He expressed dismay at the fire brigade's action in launching a major rescue operation.

Mr Unsworth, of Halstead Street, Bury, said: "I couldn't believe it. I saw firefighters getting into trouble, trying to find a dead body in the lodge. The boy couldn't have been alive after that amount of time, more than 20 minutes, under water."

He said he had dived into the water but a Park Ranger warned him not to risk his own life because of the dangerous condition of the lodge and because he believed the youngster had already drowned.

Mrs Susan Openshaw, who was walking around the Holcombe area with a friend, said she came to the lodge, initially unaware that a tragedy was unfolding.

She said: "We walked past the lodge for several minutes before we were told a boy had disappeared under the water. We then saw the ambulance and other 999 services arrive.

"I then saw one fire officer emerge from the water. He shouted: 'It is too dark, too deep and too dangerous.' Minutes later, there were two fire officers, attached to a rope in the water, swimming out along with Paul who was on the opposite side of the lodge."

Breaking into tears, Mrs Openshaw described how she thought that Paul had located the child's body when she saw him waving. Only when the two other swimmers raced towards him did she realise the Ramsbottom based fire fighter was in trouble.

"One of the fire officers managed to put his arm around Paul but he just suddenly disappeared beneath the water. It reminded me of a cork bobbing in the water. He popped back up but he just slipped through the other fire officer's fingers."

Mr Metcalf was finally pulled to the banks of the lodge but he died on the way to hospital.

Reyaz's body was recovered several hours later by a diving team.

The inquest is expected to last at least seven days.