A GALLANT grandad who helped to pluck a terrified youngster from a lake today blasted the boy's parents after a day out nearly ended in tragedy.

Quick-thinking John and Irene Baines, of Cavendish Street, Darwen, were enjoying a picnic on the banks of Fairhaven Lake in Lytham when they heard screams coming from the water.

Mr Baines, 59, who had a triple heart bypass operation last year, saw the boy struggling in the water so he used his father-in-law's walking stick to help pull him to the side.

His 57-year-old wife slipped down the bank and broke her arm as she tried to help.

But today Mr Baines vented his fury at the boy's parents whom he said didn't even have the decency to thank him, or his wife, for their heroics.

He said: "The boy was like a drowned rat and just dashed off afterwards to find his parents. His parents were in a nearby cafe having a meal, but they didn't even have the decency to come and say thank you.

"We had to call an ambulance to treat my wife who had broken her arm. We spent three hours at Blackpool Victoria Hospital and later spent four hours at Blackburn Infirmary.

"There have been so many stories about young kids drowning in water, but this lad's parents didn't seem to be bothered." Mr and Mrs Baines were enjoying the picnic with their two grandchildren Laura Townsend, four and Lee Townsend, two, and Mrs Baines' father John Blackburn, 81 and his wife Eunice.

"There were warning signs all around the lake and I think the boy, who was aged about seven, had fallen in. I didn't know who he was or where he was from.

"I can't swim so I used my father-in-law's walking stick which the boy managed to grab hold of . There was also another elderly man who tried to help.

"It was quite a drop into the lake and when my wife slipped down the slope she was up to her neck in the water. Luckily we managed to pull the boy to safety."

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