Seven-year-old from Barnsley thought to have slipped down plastic pipe

A seven-year-old boy from Barnsley is believed to have died in a tragic accident on a construction site.

Police searching for missing Conley Thompson issued a statement yesterday confirming that they had found the body of a child on a construction site on Bank End Road in the Worsbrough area of Barnsley.

Around 50 police officers were drafted in to search for Conley after he failed to return from playing in a local park with friends on Sunday evening.

Speaking to the BBC Conley鈥檚 grandmother Deborah Fraser said it was likely he fell into the pipe. She said: 鈥淵ou know it was raining, he slipped and went straight down. I hate to think what his little mind was going through.

鈥淲e know that he鈥檚 got through a small hole in top of the construction site, and because it鈥檚 been wet he鈥檚 slid down and gone into a vertical pipe.鈥

In a statement South Yorkshire Police said: 鈥淭he investigation was declared as a critical incident and around 50 officers were drafted in to search for Conley.

鈥淓xtensive, methodical and structured searches took place throughout the night involving specially trained search officers.

鈥淭he construction site, where Conley was sadly discovered by construction workers this morning, was checked by officers during the hours of darkness and found to be securely locked with a large perimeter fence.

鈥淭he investigation continues into the cause of Conley鈥檚 death and we are working with the Health and Safety Executive as part of that investigation.鈥