A WOMAN yesterday described her frantic battle to save the life of a 15-year-old boy as he burned alive in a skip.

Denise Blacklock told Newcastle Crown Court she could hear the screams of Michael Temperley as she desperately kicked at a bolt on the skip's door.

A 15-year-old boy is accused of manslaughter and false imprisonment, while a boy of 16 faces a charge of false imprisonment. Neither can be named for legal reasons.

Michael, of Oakwood Avenue, Low Fell, Gateshead, suffered 30 per cent burns and the effects of inhaling smoke during the blaze, which happened at a retail park near his home on July 14 last year.

The prosecution claims that the two youths locked Michael in the waste container which was full of wood and cardboard from the Durham Pine furniture outlet, on Team Valley Retail Park.

Mrs Blacklock told the court that as she was attempting to free the boy from the skip the two accused were frantic with worry.

Mr Justice Henriques adjourned the trial for a short break after the 16-year-old defendant and a member of the jury broke down in tears.

When the court reconvened, Mrs Blacklock told how she tried to open the skip.

She said: ''All I could find was wood. I started to push at the door. I did not know how the door opened. I tried my best."

The court then heard how the fire brigade had opened the door with a bolt cutter and rescued Michael from the inferno.

Both defendants deny the charges.

Earlier, shop assistant Sandra Hall, who works at the Benson Beds store on the retail park, told the court how the 15-year-old defendant had come to the back of the shop in tears. She said she heard him say to her colleague: "I done that to my mate. It was only a joke. We were only carrying on."