Boy, 3, dies after being hit by tractor on farmland near Bury

A three-year-old boy has died after being hit by a tractor near Bury.

The incident happened on farmland near Bentley Hall Road in Tottington on Saturday (16 July). Police were called just before 12.45pm after an ambulance was flagged down on Rochdale Old Road.

The boy died before he could be taken to hospital.

The driver of the tractor is now assisting police with their enquiries and a cordon is in place while investigators work to discover what happened.

Police say specialist officers are supporting the family of the boy.

In a statement, Chief Inspector Ian Partington, of GMP’s Bury district, said: “This is a heart-breaking incident that has seen a young boy tragically lose his life and my thoughts go out to his family and loved ones who will be utterly devastated by today’s events.

“Despite his family flagging down an ambulance while driving him towards hospital quickly as they could, the boy sadly could not be saved after the best efforts of paramedics; I can’t imagine how distressing this was for those involved.

“We are working to ensure that a full investigation is carried out, and the farmland where we understand this incident to have occurred remains cordoned off to allow our investigators and partners from the HSE to conduct thorough enquiries to establish exactly what has occurred here.”

Earlier, parts of Rochdale Old Road were closed off after the boy's family hailed a passing ambulance to help.

A police car that had been responding to the incident was also involved in a collision.

The force said a number of people in the car were taken to hospital as a precaution, but no police officers were injured.