Children 'badly hurt' by heavy objects like TVs and furniture falling on them in Blackpool as health bosses issue urgent warning

Bosses at the Victoria Hospital, in Whinney Heys Road, pleaded with adults to take precautions after a "number of incidents" recently.

They said: "We're urging all parents and carers to be extra vigilant and pay close attention to their children when they're around heavy household objects and pieces of furniture such as fireplaces, bookshelves, TVs, cabinets, chest of drawers, and anything else that has the potential to fall on top of them.

"Let's keep our children at home safe."

The danger posed by flatscreen TVs, which are easier for small hands to pull over, has been highlighted by the accidental prevention charity Rospa, which said eight British youngsters have died in such a manner since 2008.

It said free-standing flatscreens should be put on a "wide, stable manufacturer's base", with anti-tip straps fitted.

Such straps can also be attached to bulky pieces of furniture like bookshelves and cabinets and can be bought online for less than £3.50.

Campaigner Jackie Collas, whose son Curren died aged two, previously told how she walked into his bedroom to find him crushed under a five-drawer dresser.

She said: "I started screaming. His head was trapped between the edge of the bed and all of the weight of the dresser was laying across his neck.

"I tried ripping the dresser off of him. It took me a couple of tries to pick it up. I tried to pick him up like I normally do, but his little body and neck was so floppy."

Jackie said she wishes she had stopped her lifesaving efforts, in vain, to rock little Curren one last time.

She added: "I would have held him a little longer, while he was still warm."

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