A BURY firefighter lost his life needlessly attempting to recover a dead body from a dangerous lodge, an inquest heard.

At the hearing into the death of sub-officer Paul Metcalf and teenager Reyaz Ali, witness Geoffrey Unsworth said he had pulled stricken youngsters from the murky depths of Simon's Lodge before, as it was regularly used as a swimming pool during warm weather.

He expressed his dismay as to why the fire brigade launched a major rescue operation to find the 15-year-old boy despite his body being reported submerged under the water for more than 30 minutes.

Mr Metcalf, of Whalley Road, Shuttleworth, died a year ago today as a result of a rescue operation to recover the body of Reyaz Ali from Simon's Lodge in Holcombe Brook.

Mr Unsworth, of Halstead Street, Bury, told the Bury inquest: "I couldn't believe it. I saw firefighters getting into trouble, trying to find a dead body in the lodge. The boy couldn't have been alive after that amount of time, more than 20 minutes, under water."

He told the inquest that he thought the rescue operation had been bungled.

He claimed: "There was no co-ordination, no real plan, and no one seemed to be in charge. It was chaotic when it started going wrong."

He then added he dived into the water but a park ranger warned him not to risk his own life because of the dangerous condition of the lodge and that he believed the youngster had already drowned.

A second eyewitness told how she watched part-time firefighter Paul Metcalf "slip through the fingers" of his frantic colleagues as they tried to save him from drowning.

Susan Openshaw looked on in horror as at least two fellow firemen attempted to keep the 40-year-old's head above water as others pulled a safety rope in a bid to drag him to safety.

Coroner Mr Barrie Williams and a jury of six women and four men heard how Darul Uloom College student Reyaz and a number of other students had broken "college rules" and went swimming in the out-of-bounds Simon's Lodge.

Fisherman Jason Jones from Haslingden said 24 hours earlier, the same group of boys had been swimming and diving into the popular but dangerous lodge.

He said: "On the Saturday I heard the boys screaming for help, saying someone was drowning. They were joking and, after the first few calls, I took very little interest in their activities.

"A day later, I think the same group of Asian boys returned because they were shouting out the same pleas for help."

When he realised something was wrong Mr Jones approached two teenagers and was given three different locations as to the boy's whereabouts in the water so he decided against trying to rescue him. "It was too dangerous," said Mr Jones.

A paramedic crew was first on the scene quickly followed by firefighters and police. The first rescue attempt occurred "in excess of 30 minutes" of Reyaz being underwater, Greater Manchester County Fire Brigade's legal representative, Lady Ruth Tripper, conceded.

Mrs Openshaw, who came across the tragedy while out on a ramble, said: "We walked past the lodge for several minutes before we were told a boy had disappeared under the water. We then saw the ambulance and other 999 services arrive.

"I then saw one fire officer emerge from the water. He shouted: "it is too dark, too deep and too dangerous. Minutes later, there were two fire officers, attached to a rope in the water, swimming out along with Mr Metcalf who was on the opposite side of the lodge."

In tears, Mrs Openshaw described how she thought that Mr Metcalf had located the child's body when she saw him waving. Only when the two other swimmers raced towards him did she realise the Ramsbottom based firefighter was in trouble.

"One of the fire officers managed to put his arm around Mr Metcalf but he just suddenly disappeared beneath the water. It reminded me of a cork bobbing in the water. He popped back up but he just slipped through the other fire officer's fingers."

Mr Metcalf was finally pulled to the banks of the lodge but he died on route to hospital. Reyaz's body was recovered several hours later by a diving team.

A team of top legal experts, including the Paddington rail crash barrister Mr Gerald Forlin who is acting on behalf of the Fire Brigade Union, are monitoring the inquest as the union considers whether to press for criminal prosecution against Greater Manchester County Fire Brigade.

At the start of the second day's evidence, a one-minute silence was held to remember Mr Metcalf who died a year ago today. The inquest is expected to last all week.