An eight-year-old girl narrowly escaped being buried alive under scrap metal as she played in a skip on a Bradford industrial estate.

The youngster and her friends were inside Cold Drawn Products in Low Moor just ahead of a tipper lorry's arrival.

By sheer fortune, the driver got out of his cab and checked the back of his vehicle before the metal cascaded down into the skip.

He spotted the youngster in the skip, got her out and the police were called.

The deputy head teacher at one local school described the incident as a "near-fatal accident".

Now police, bosses at the firm, which makes steel bars and wire, and the school are all urging youngsters to stay away from the site and play in safe areas.

The firm's technical director Tom Winnette, said: "This not a playground.

"It is private property. It is industrial premises. It is no place to play."

He said the company regularly has to repair fences which have been broken down by youngsters.

The children also ignore calls to stay away from a pond at the front of the premises which is fenced off.

There are repeated incidents of windows being deliberately broken at the firm.

Mr Winnette said: "We do have problems. But this incident should be a warning to parents to encourage their children not to break in and play on these grounds.

"We are always doing extensive repairs to fences. It is not good practice to play in skips."

Sean Smith, deputy head master at Low Moor CE Primary School, said although it was not known if the girl was a pupil there, a warning had gone out to all parents.

It was described as a "near fatal accident" in the newsletter home.

Mr Smith said: "We got a call from the police saying the lorry driver had got out of his cab and gone round the back and saw her playing there.

"It must have been a shock for the driver to see them there. It is not an appropriate place to play in."

A West Yorkshire police spokesman confirmed they had attended the incident on Tuesday evening.

She said: "The children were spoken to before being taken home.

"We would strongly advise children to find safe designated play areas to play on and avoid areas such as business premises and building sites which can prove very dangerous."

A spokesman for the Health and Safety Executive, which attended the scene, said there would be no investigation as the company had taken every measure to secure its premises.