POLICE have praised a Prescot dad whose quick thinking saved a young boy from drowning.

Richard Moore, from Hilary Close, was enjoying a leisurely stroll along Liverpool's Brunswick Dock with his wife Caron and two-year-old daughter Alice at about 6.30pm on Saturday, April 19, when he spotted two young boys playing on a makeshift swing near the waterside.

He told the Star: "I could see what they were doing was dangerous. It looked as though they had made the swing themselves so we kept an eye on them as we walked along."

And Richard's premonition of danger proved spot on as suddenly one of the boys, a nine-year-old from the Anfield area of Liverpool, fell off the swing, landing in the River Mersey where he began splashing about and shouting for help.

Richard, who works for cable company Telewest Communications, added: "I just handed Alice over to my wife and ran over to the other side of the dock where they were. Fortunately, the lad had drifted near to the bank and I just managed to grab hold of him and drag him out."

The lucky youngster was taken to Alder Hey Hospital where he was treated for shock and hypothermia.

And a police spokesman praised Richard saying: "This could well have been a very tragic accident but for the quick-thinking actions of Mr Moore."

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