Little girl injured after falling down unsecure manhole

A little girl was injured when she fell down a manhole with an unsecure cover on Wesley Close, Smallbridge.

The four-year-old was understood to have been playing with her cousins on Tuesday evening (1 May) when she stepped onto the covered manhole. The lid flipped, causing her to fall inside, grazing her ribs and hips.

The incident was reported to the council, which has since cordoned off the area.

Andrew Storey, head of highways at Rochdale Borough Council, said: “We received a report that a manhole may be a danger to the public and have now erected barriers around it. We are currently trying to establish who owns the manhole in question.”