THE family of a teenage boy who plunged 15ft from a school roof while trying to retrive a football have said that he is ‘lucky to be alive’.

Hamza Khan, 14, fell from the top of Stoneyholme Junior School on to the concrete playground below at 9pm on Monday evening.

The Sir John Thursby Community College pupil was taken to Royal Blackburn Hospital by ambulance where he had x-rays and a CT scan after doctors feared he may have damaged his neck and spine.

The youngster from Throstle Close in Burnley had being playing with friends when he kicked his football onto the roof of the school and slipped to the ground, his family said.

Paramedics arrived on the scene but were unable to reach him through metal security fences.

Firefighters were drafted in to cut through the railings and were able to free him.

Hamza, was yesterday was being treated at the hospital for a broken arm but was expected to be discharged last night.

Watch manager Steve Harrison, of Burnley Fire Station, said: “To fall 15ft and only break your arm is very fortunate – especially falling on to concrete.

“We urge children not to play on roofs. They don’t realise how much danger they are putting themselves in. Parents should ask be aware of where their children are playing.”

Hamza’s father Anthony Shanks, 35 said: “I had only just got home from work when his friends came by and said that he had fallen off the roof to the school and had hurt his arm.

“At first we were told he may need to have an operation on his arm but they haven’t needed to.

“Doctors were worried that he might have damaged his spine but they have carried out tests and it seems as though he is OK.

“His hand is a mess and he has a few cuts on his face but it could have been a lot worse.

“So far he seems ok but has been complaining of pins and needles in his arm.”

His grandma, Nasim Bhatti, 60 said that the family had had ‘the shock of their lives’.

She said: “Hamza is lucky to be alive after falling from such a height. He is a typical boy doing things without really thinking them through but I don’t think he will be doing that again.”

Ali Uddin, 40 from March Street was alerted to the incident by his son who had being playing football with Hamza.

He said: “The paramedics were already there when I arrived.

“He looked like he was in a lot of pain. I think he was lucky that he he wasn’t more seriously injured. His parents were distraught – I think they thought that his injuries would be a lot worse.”