The mother of a six-year-old boy has told of her horror after he was nearly killed' in a trap laid by children.

The youngster cycled into a washing line which had been deliberately strung between two walls in East Bowling, Bradford.

The rope cut into his neck and flung him off his bike.

Aston Firth was found with blood running down his throat by his mother, Samantha Clough, who rushed him to hospital.

Today he was recovering from his ordeal but Miss Clough has been told by hospital staff that he could have been killed.

She is now alerting other children and their parents to the dangers.

Aston was playing out on his BMX bike on a back street yards from his home in Helmsley Street when he became victim of the trap laid by two boys aged about seven or eight.

Miss Clough, 27, said: "I was walking from my house to check that Aston was playing okay when I saw him with a teenager.

"It looked as if somebody had held a knife to his throat and cut it. It was bleeding right across and up towards his right cheek and blood was running down his neck.

"He was in a lot of pain and was sobbing his heart out. He also had a couple of bumps on his head and grazed knees where he had come off his bike.

"The teenager had seen what happened. He said the two boys had tied the washing line to two walls on either side of the street and as Aston cycled up they raised the rope so he rode into it.

"He saw it at the last moment and tried to turn away, which is probably what saved him because the rope slid from his neck up his cheek. The line pulled him straight out of the saddle and he clattered to the ground."

Miss Clough shouted for help and her father, Peter Clough, 52, gave the youngster first aid. She then took him to the doctor who advised her to take him to hospital.

She said: "They examined him, made sure he could swallow, checked his eyes, ears and heartbeat, and put some cream on his neck.

"The doctors and nurses told me that Aston had been extremely lucky and, if he hadn't turned his face, his injuries would have been a lot more serious and he could even have died."

Miss Clough said one of the boys responsible had gone to tell his mother who had come to try to help. But she said the parent of the other boy had shrugged off the incident as child's play.

She said: "That annoyed me because my child could have died. I have notified the police. They said the boys are too young to be prosecuted but they are going to speak to their parents to make them realise how serious this was. Children need to be taught that washing lines are dangerous if they are misused like this."

She said Aston had been very brave and had wanted to go back to school, Lowerfields Primary in East Bowling, the next day.

She said: "I am hoping this won't have any long-term effects on him. He is a bright boy and understands this could have been more serious.

"But he still wants a new bike for his seventh birthday next week, so it doesn't seem to have put him off."

A Bradford South Police spokesman confirmed the incident, on Monday teatime, had been reported to them and Neighbourhood Policing Team officers would be visiting Miss Clough.

He said: "If it is an isolated incident it would be normal practice for us to also visit the children responsible, with their parents, and advise them about the seriousness of what they have done."