A HERO lorry driver was praised today after hauling a drowning boy to safety when he was spotted lying face down in a canal.

Peter Almond turned guardian angel for the second time in his life when he dragged five-year-old Billy Lynch from the canal at Church yesterday afternoon.

The alarm had been raised by pregnant Gina King, whose own attempt to rescue the boy was thwarted by thick mud.

Twenty years ago, Peter rescued five people from almost certain death in a horror smash at Gisburn Races.

Gina, of Canal Street, Accrington, saw Billy lying face down in the water, thrashing his arms and legs.

The brave mum, who has been expecting for five-and-a-half months, attempted to wade through the water to save the child but got stuck in the mud on the canal bed.

Her screams for help were heard by father-of-two Peter, who works as a temporary driver for Smurfit's Waste Paper plant in Blackburn. He was unloading recycled paper at Nayler's printing mill nearby.

Peter, 44, climbed over a wall and dashed to the canal side before jumping into the water and battling through the mud to drag Billy to safety.

Colne man Peter revived the child who lives in Kirk Road, Church, with on-the-spot first-aid treatment.

Paramedics and firefighters from Accrington arrived on the scene before the boy was taken to Blackburn Royal Infirmary for a check-up. He left later.

Peter, who lives in Derby Street, Colne, with wife Joan and sons Scott, 15, and Alex, 11, said: "The boy couldn't lift his head up from the water. Another minute and he would have gone under.

"The mud was up to my knees so I had to lunge for the boy. I squeezed his stomach a couple of times and he came to and was coughing up water."

Peter saved a driver and four passengers during the Gisburn Races when the car they were travelling in was involved in a crash outside the Coronation Hotel.

He fought through the flames to rescue the injured from the blazing car before ripping out the battery to stop the vehicle from exploding.

Peter added: "I seem to be in the right place at the right time. I just hope somebody is there for me if I ever have an accident one day."

Billy's mother Julie Latham, 27, said: "I have told Billy not to play near the canal a million times. This just shows how dangerous it is.

"People have been trying for years to get it sealed off. I am eternally grateful to those two brave people who rescued my son.

"He can't swim and had they not been there he could have drowned."

Gina, 25, whose sons Jamie, three, and Billy, five, were playing with Billy on the canal side when the accident happened, said: "I got in the water and tried to reach him but I just went down in the sand and was stuck."

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