A teenager has died after plunging 50ft through a skylight at a Crossflatts factory when he went to retrieve a football.

Gavin Baxter, 13, of Moorhead Crescent, Saltaire, had clambered on to the roof of the Magnet kitchen and joinery showroom in Keighley Road when it gave way.

He was taken to Bradford Royal Infirmary and later transferred to Leeds General Infirmary, where he died yesterday.

And there was a near repeat of the tragedy last night when a 12-year-old girl fell 15ft through a glass roofing panel at an empty car showroom in Bradford.

The girl, who has not been named, had ignored warning signs and was with a group of friends on the roof of the former Lookers Garage on Nelson Street, Bradford, when the accident happened shortly after 5pm.

She fell on her side and escaped with nothing more than a fractured wrist, but fire officers, who attended the incident, said her injuries could have been much worse.

Robert Anderson, Assistant Divisional Officer, at Bradford Fire Station, said: "It's a 15ft drop on to concrete and she was extremely lucky. She landed just two feet away from a set of bolts used to secure machinery - which were sticking up through the floor."

Officers from the environmental protection department at Bradford Council are investigating the accident at Magnet which happened at 5.25pm on Saturday.

Today Gavin's grieving mother Janet Todd, 46, who described him as a "cheeky chappie" and a "loveable rogue", said: "He was playing with two pals Neil and Craig from Bingley. We had seen him earlier as we were out shopping and he had waved to us.

"We saw him traipsing along towards Crossflatts near the station. He was doing the usual thing which was eating. Apparently they got on to the roof at Magnet's to look for a football and he lost his footing. I suppose they are inquisitive at that age."

She added: "The doctors at the hospital were marvellous and did everything they could to save him.

"They couldn't operate because he had a blood clot on the brain stem. If he had pulled through, they would have had to rebuild his face, but there was nothing they could do. He had broken both his wrists and suffered a fractured skull. He was a really fun-loving lad who loved life. He was always looking for a laugh and all the girls were after him."

Gavin played rugby for the Bradford and Bingley under-13s team and liked roller blading and just started skateboarding. He leaves an older sister Faye, 17, and his stepfather David Todd, a former member of the Telegraph & Argus publishing department.

A West Yorkshire Ambulance Service spokesman said: "The boy was unconscious when ambulance crews arrived and had suffered serious head injuries in the fall.

"This is a terrible tragedy and our thoughts are with the family. We would urge all children to keep away from factories and derelict buildings because they're dangerous places."

Today a spokesman for Magnet said: "This is a very unfortunate accident and the company's sympathies are with Gavin's family at this time."

An inquest is due to be opened tomorrow. No definite funeral arrangements have been made, his mother said she hoped it would be held at Bingley Parish Church.

A spokesman for the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents today warned owners and occupiers of properties of their duty to provide security, warnings signs and adequate surveillance on site.

The spokesman said: "We would encourage them to follow the good example of the railway and construction industries of liaising with schools to highlight the dangers of trespass."

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