A 14-year-old boy had a lucky escape last night when he plunged through a glass skylight in the roof of a Farnworth school.

The teenager, who survived with only minor cuts and bruises, is believed to have been running with friends along the roof of St James' CE Primary School in Hillside Avenue, New Bury, when the panel gave way beneath him.

He fell around 10ft into a classroom below. His friends raised the alarm and ambulance paramedics arrived on the scene within minutes. The fire brigade was also called.

Paramedics contacted a school key holder and the boy was rescued. He refused hospital treatment.

Today as the teenager -- who has not been named -- was recovering at home, police warned youngsters of the dangers posed by climbing up on to school roofs.

They were not called to attend the incident.

But a police spokesman said: "They are not playgrounds and this boy was lucky to escape serious injury. It could have been a lot worse.

"This incident should serve as a strong warning to others.

"We would also like to remind parents that their children should be told of the dangers of playing in places were they should not be playing.

"Every year we get incidents like this and although they may seem like fun places to play they are not. The message needs to get across."

No one at the school was available to comment today.

But a spokeswoman for Greater Manchester Ambulance Service confirmed that paramedics were called to attend the incident at around 8pm.

She added: "We called the fire service but in the end we did not require them. We called a keyholder and managed to reach the boy inside.

"He did not require hospital treatment but was shaken."

A clean-up operation was launched at the school today and the damaged skylight was due to be repaired.