A MAJOR rescue operation was launched to reach the boy after he fell 80ft over a rock face at Calder Bank, off Bull Hill, at Darwen.

Amazingly, 12-year-old Paul Talbot Newton only suffered a broken finger and bruising to his back. Emergency services issued a "stay away" warning to East Lancashire children playing close to the edge of steep drops.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.