A MAN from Breightmet who had a lucky escape after slipping into a Bolton lodge as a child has joined the Bolton Evening News campaign to fill them in.

Twenty years ago Wesley McArdle was like any other boy of his age with a natural curiosity and sense of adventure and an attraction for water that all youngsters share.

But a tumble into the disused, overgrown and isolated Red Bridge Lodge close to his home changed Wesley's attitude to "mucking about near water" for good.

Red Bridge Lodge is difficult to find, completely overgrown and has become a dumping ground for everything from household rubbish to tyres.

But Wesley says it still acts as a magnet for children in the area to this day.

Obscured from the road, its overgrown trees might mask the the antics of thrill seeking youngsters.

But its sheer sides, made treacherously slippy by the moisture, provide little for a child to grab if they fell down the banking.

Wesley can testify to this when, as an eight-year-old, he slipped down the embankment into the stagnant water.

"You could call it a lucky escape," he said. "In reality it was just my feet that went in, but if I had been on my own I dread to think what might have happened."

To this day Wesley does not go near deep water, but he says it is difficult to stop children when they are playing out.

"There are about four old lodges in this area and they still attract children to this day," said Wesley. "You look at them now and you realise they are dangerous and don't go near, but as a kid it is more appealing."

He added: "It's sad when it takes the death of a child to make people take action, but it is action that is needed. These lodges aren't just potentially dangerous they are a disaster waiting to happen and, unless they are filled in, something will happen."