A Norfolk boy's 11th birthday celebrations turned to horror when he became entangled in barbed wire close to a building site while playing with friends.

Paramedics had to remove the barbed wire from under the skin of Jack Clarke's leg when he became impaled while playing with friends on a field in Blackthorn Road, Attleborough, close to the site of a new Norfolk Homes development.

The sharp, rusting wire on the Norfolk Homes site penetrated and lifted the skin, drawing some blood.

Jack's mother Susan found her son in a state of shock and fearing for his life after his friends rushed to tell her what had happened at his home a few yards away in Lavender Close.

'Some of the children came back and said 'quick, Sue, Jack's caught on an electrical wire'.

'I saw that it was barbed wire and had hooked on to his leg and pulled his skin up.

'I thought there was no way I can get him out of this without pulling his skin and ripping it.

'We called an ambulance and the paramedic did manage to get it out without ripping his skin, which I was grateful for but he was very scared.

'He was not crying, but he was scared he was going to die,' she added.

The Attleborough Junior School pupil did not need to go to hospital on March 31, but he has a scar three or four inches long on the back of his leg.

Since the incident, a metal barrier has been placed in front of the barbed wire.

Much of the wire has turned brown and is indistinguishable from the undergrowth.

dominic.bareham2@archant.co.uk