A POISONOUS fish attacked a young girl at Throbsaw Point in Heysham this week.

Kayleigh Beswick, 12, was airlifted to safety with her two friends after they were spotted trapped at Throbsaw Point below the ruins of St Patrick's Chapel.

As lifeboat crew and Lancashire police helicopter searched for the girls on Saturday afternoon news came through that a member of the public had waded out to lead the girls back to the beach.

But there was concern when it was reported that one of the girls was thought to be stung by a weever fish. The weever has sharp venomous dorsal spines and there can be a lethal reaction if the skin is punctured. The air ambulance joined the operation and landed on the beach near the scene. Paul Moffatt, who helmed the lifeboat, said the girls, all aged about 12, were about a quarter-of-a-mile offshore. He commented: "They were not in imminent danger from the tide, which was only starting to come in, but they were quite a way out and the water was flowing in behind them. The immediate concern was that one of the girls had been stung or bitten. I could see the puncture mark on her leg. She said she had been standing in soft sand and wasn't able to walk properly."

Kayleigh, of Grizedale Place on the Kingsway estate, was taken to hospital and released after treatment. The alert was sounded at about 4.40pm.

A spokesman from Morecambe Bay Health Authority said the weever fish is rare and it is very unusual for anyone to be stung by one. They live in sand or on muddy shores. Their spines are used to attack when they are disturbed - usually when somebody accidentally treads on them.

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