shaft to save his two-year-old son has praised the emergency services for their quick response.
Jeff Cuppleditch spent the night in hospital on Tuesday after injuring his back lifting his young son to safety after he fell into a 7ft deep hole, which appeared in the back garden of their home in Park Street, Newhall.
Mr Cuppleditch described the actions of police, fire and ambulance services who rushed to his aid as ‘fantastic’.
The 47-year-old told of his shock at seeing his two-year-old disappear into the mine shaft, but his paternal instincts quickly came into play and, without a thought for his own safety, he plunged into the hole after him.
Mr Cuppleditch strained his back hoisting the boy to safety, making it impossible for him to escape himself, so he rang the emergency services using his mobile phone.
The toddler is now well, despite his ordeal.
Mr Cuppleditch said: “He’s absolutely fine — he bounced back.” Mr Cuppleditch believes the mine shaft was one of a series of mines dug illegally at the beginning of the 20th century by miners, who continued to work through the National Coal Strike of 1912.
He said: “In 1912 there was a strike and federation miners carried on working when everyone else was on strike.
“They dug tunnels and never back-filled the tunnels in, so over the years they have been falling down.” The Coal Authority is currently carrying out investigations to determine the origin of the mine.
Steve Kershaw, a principle project manager for the Coal Authority, said: “We have no recorded indications of the mine — whether it was something that was dug illegally in the past we don’t know.
“In areas where there is coal close to the top of the ground, people have probably been digging it up for hundreds of years.
“There are mines all over the area.” A cement pumping company was at the property yesterday, filling the mine shaft with cement in order to make it safe
