CHILDREN are being warned to stay away from building sites after an Amesbury boy was rescued from a 26ft deep construction pit.

Marten Cox (13), who is a pupil at the town's Stonehenge School, had been playing in his back garden around 7pm, when friends asked if he could retrieve a hat that had fallen into the bottom of a partly constructed soakaway pit, off Milton Road.

He managed to climb down some of the way and reach a narrow ledge, but jumped the remaining 16ft to reach the bottom of the pit before realising he was unable to climb out.

The fire brigade was called to rescue Marten and he was checked over by an ambulance crew.

Royston Cox, Marten's father, said: "When he went down this particular hole he thought he would be able to climb out, but because the walls are made of chalk they just crumbled.

"He jumped about five metres to get to the bottom, but fortunately nothing was broken.

"He's been very sore for the past few days though and the medics think he might have got some internal bruising. He was extremely lucky and he knows that."

Mr Cox, a flight test engineer for QinetiQ, added: "Marten's a typical 13-year-old - he tends to want to be helpful to his friends and do things for them, but I know he won't be doing it again."

Marten had climbed under barriers - erected to keep people away from the site - in order to gain access to the pit, and ignored the 'Caution! Deep Excavation' signs.

When asked if Amec, who were carrying out the work on behalf of QinetiQ, could have done more, Mr Cox said: "I don't think it would have made any difference, no matter how many barriers were up.

"It's a safety measure that needs to be put across that these sites are not playgrounds - but, as all parents know, it's difficult to keep your eyes on them one hundred per cent of the time."

A spokesman for QinetiQ said that they have regular meetings with local councillors and residents to make sure the community is well-briefed on work in the area.

He added: "QinetiQ has made sure that excavations as part of its upgrade to local roads are properly fenced off. It is unfortunate that this happened and it is really important that people take note of the signs displayed for their own safety."

The Mayor of Amesbury, Allan Peach, has also voiced his concerns over children playing near construction sites.

He said: "I attended a briefing with the project team at Boscombe Down with regard to the development of new roads there.

"Some children decided they were playing grounds and one of them slipped into a pit. He was not injured but it could have been a major incident.

"Amesbury will become a development site over the next four years. Somewhere along the way we have got to get over that these sites are not playing areas."