A 12-YEAR-OLD boy was airlifted to hospital after suffering a serious leg injury while sledging in the snow in Rivington.

The boy sustained a serious fracture to his femur following the incident, on a track near Rivington Hall.

He was part of a group of three adults and five children who were making the most of the wintery weather, and was airlifted to the Manchester Royal Infirmary for further treatment.

Staff from the Bolton Mountain Rescue team were first on the site, near the Old Kates track, shortly before 1pm on January 22, with the air ambulance landing at the site about 15 minutes later.

The boy was given pain relief by the team, was put on a stretcher and had a splint applied to his leg.

The air ambulance then took off at about 2.15pm, on route to the hospital.

A spokesman for Bolton Mountain Rescue team said: "A 12-year-old, sledging, has suffered a very serious femur fracture, and was being comforted by other members of his party, who had a casualty shelter to hand.

"The group of three adults and five children, all from Manchester, had been on a winter walk and snow sledging, when this incident occurred.

"The casualty's party did a very good job in wintry conditions."

A spokesman for North West Air Ambulance said: "We attended an incident on Thursday January 22 at 1pm and it involved a young male who was taken to Manchester MRI's children's ward."

Members of the casualty’s party initially comforted and cared for the boy and passing members of the public assisted them in carry back their equipment.