An eight-year-old boy was taken to hospital last night after he slipped while climbing a tree, impaling his thigh on a branch.

Firefighters last night praised a member of the public who stood on steps to support the boy's weight for ten minutes as he hung eight feet from the ground.

The crew cut through the branch, in the Masefield Road area of Hartlepool, and lowered the boy to waiting paramedics.

under-16s pub ban: The Government is to move to ban children aged under 16 from pubs unless accompanied by an adult. The proposal is expected to come in the form of an amendment to the Licensing Bill, which aims to liberalise drinking hours.

us soldier killed: An American soldier was killed and two others injured in a rocket propelled grenade attack on a military ambulance in Baghdad yesterday. It was the third attack on US personnel in the past 24 hours.

alligator victim: A 12-year-old boy has been killed by an alligator as he swam with friends in a Florida river.

holiday gropers: About 38 per cent of women travellers have been followed or groped while on holiday, according to a survey in She magazine.

chicken call: Adding beef and pork proteins to chicken should be banned by the European Commission, the UK's food watchdog urged yesterday. Processors have been accused of using proteins to "pump up" the size of meat by retaining added water.

carjack victim: A woman was left lying in the road with serious head injuries after thieves stole her car, police said last night. The 56-year-old victim was reversing her vehicle out a driveway in Birmingham when two men dragged her out of her seat.

pat's shop closes: The sub-post office which inspired the children's books and TV series Postman Pat - the Beast Bank post office in Kendal, Cumbria - shut its doors for the last time yesterday because the business was no longer viable.