THE pipe attached to Dugdale Bridge over the Leeds & Liverpool Canal in Burnley has for the past 110 years been a 'dare' for children, but one fell and drowned, which has cost the National Grid £2 millions.
The 11 years old boy, Robbie Williamson, did what he had been doing many times, when walking to the local 'chippy'—instead of walking over the bridge, accepted a 'dare' so went across the pipe attached to Dugdale Bridge, but this time he fell off, (Boy drowned after dare) landed on the canal edge, banging his head, falling into the water and drowned, Keith Gudgin tells us.
Pulled Robbie out
It was the shouts of his friends that alerted a local man, who immediately pulled Robbie from the canal, but he was later pronounced dead in hospital.
Though the pipe has been there for over a hundred years and a favourite for children of the area, this tragedy brought in the health & safety people, who took the National Grid to court, with the company being fined.
No complaints
A spokesman for the National Grid maintained that there was no record of any complaints about the pipe, it believing the power cable it carries ran underground—with maintenance work on it from 2001 to 2006 not being recorded.
There are now protective iron shields on either side of the pipe, with National Grid inspecting all its other pipes across water.