A teenage boy has told an inquest how his little brother slipped from his grasp and was swept to his death in the River Wharfe.

An inquest at Skipton Magistrates Court, which recorded a verdict of accidental death yesterday, heard that as many as 40 people joined the hunt for Aaron Page who drowned while celebrating his eighth birthday at Bolton Abbey, near Skipton, with members of his family.

The inquest heard that Aaron, from Pontefract, and his 13-year-old brother Joshua went to the river’s edge while their father, Alan Page, set up a barbecue. Mr Page said Aaron had seen other people jumping into the river from a tree stump and wanted to do the same.

Joshua said: “We went into the water together but it wasn’t far, just a few feet. It came up to around my ankles and we were standing on some big rocks on the bottom of the river.”

Joshua then told the inquest that Aaron slipped. The older boy grabbed his younger brother but as he tried to pull him back, Joshua also slipped and let go of Aaron. “I couldn’t do anything about it,” he said.

Andrea Campbell, of Leeds, who was at the river with her partner, said: “I heard somebody shout ‘Dad’. They shouted it again and when I looked over I saw a little boy in the water.”

She then spotted Aaron struggling in the water on the other side of the river.

Mrs Campbell entered the river to swim over to help him. “I could see his head just above water when I saw him by an over-hanging tree,” she said. “As I was swimming out towards him I could see him, but as I got closer. I was too late.

“Before I got to where he was he had gone underwater. I went straight underwater to find him, but I could barely see my hand in front of my face.”

Mrs Campbell, who described herself as a strong swimmer, shouted for help and continued her search but begin to tire in the river’s currents.

Mr Page said: “I heard a woman scream out, but I didn’t know what she was screaming about. As I was walking towards the river, Josh came towards me shouting ‘Aaron’s gone under’. When I heard that, I started running towards and dived in with two other men. I’m not a very good swimmer and the water was cold, which took my breath away.”

PC Jason Payne, who was one of the first officers on the scene, stripped off his outer clothing, and with an onlooker, a member of the Derbyshire mountain rescue, procured a dinghy and attempted to row across.

The current was so strong they abandoned the vessel and swam to the other side. He had been given a long pole which he used to push under the water to search for Aaron.

”It was very deep,” he said. “I could see the rock face and by pushing the pole into the sides I could see it going back on itself. I was pushing the pole as deep as my shoulder but could still not reach the bottom.

PC Payne and his colleague were in the river for about a hour before they were told to come back for their own safety.

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