A BOY had to be rescued by firefighters after he climbed into the grounds of a primary school and became stuck.

Fire crews were called to Castle Hill Primary School, in Hall i' th' Wood, where a seven-year-old boy had climbed over a fence after the gates had been closed.

The unlucky child had managed to jump the fence but could not get himself back out.

Crews said the call-out had "tied them up", resulting in a loss of fire service cover elsewhere and urged members of the public to be responsible.

Andy Kopicki, watch manager at Bolton North Fire Station, said: "We were called just after 3.30pm on Tuesday. We used a ladder to help a boy back over a school fence."

Mr Kopicki added: "Once a fire engine is attending an incident, the service has no function to redirect that appliance to another emergency, even if it is a serious house fire around the corner where people are trapped. They would instead be reliant on another crew travelling from further afield.

"This kind of low priority incident ties up our resources and could put others at risk.

"We would urge people to think before they act."

Crews said they did not know why the boy had climbed into the Castle Hill Street school.

They were called to the scene by a resident. They were in attendance for about 10 minutes.