A two-year-old boy has died on a Lancashire farm following a slurry pit incident, the Health and Safety Executive has confirmed.
The toddler was found unresponsive in water on a farm near the hamlet of Ireby, on 27 June.
The boy was taken to Royal Lancashire Infirmary, but died shortly after arrival.
Lancashire Police confirmed the incident: “We were called around 5.05pm on Saturday 27 June to a report a boy had been found unresponsive in water on farmland at an address in Ireby.
“A Home Office post-mortem examination to establish a cause of death will take place in due course.
“The death is not being treated as suspicious and a file will be passed to HM Coroner.
"Our thoughts are with the boy’s family at this sad and difficult time.”
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) added: “Initial notification is that a child playing near a slurry pit was killed when he became overcome by slurry gas.”
The HSE recently reminded farmers to ensure children were safe on the farm as schools remained shut due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
It comes as new figures by the safety watchdog show that despite accounting for a large share of the UK's annual fatality count, the industry saw the lowest level of farm fatalities on record during 2019/2020.
However, on guidance on its website, HSE says that children are 'regularly killed and injured on farms'.
The body has published a leaflet which provides practical guidance on how to reduce the risk of injury to children under 13 and older children below minimum school leaving age.
