Child, 12, dies after being electrocuted on railway tracks in Merseyside

A 12-year-old boy has died after being electrocuted on a railway track in Merseyside on Monday night.

Officers from the British Transport Police were called to Bedford Road in Bootle at around 7pm following reports of a "casualty" on the tracks.

A BTP spokesperson confirmed a boy, named locally as James Myers, had been pronounced dead at the scene.

Officers later said his injuries were "consistent with electrocution" and confirmed the death is not being treated as suspicious.

However, they refused to confirm the age or gender of the victim, or whether or not a train was involved.

The British Transport Police reportedly requested an emergency switch-off of the railway tracks as they carried out their operations.

Trains were also cancelled, delayed and diverted while emergency workers attended.

Earlier on Saturday evening two children, believed to be 12 years old, had reportedly been seen walking on the line.

A BTP spokesperson said: “His injuries were consistent with electrocution and the incident is not being treated as suspicious.

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“The boy’s family have been informed and are being supported by specially trained family liaison officers.”

A neighbour Jimmy Ellison told The Liverpool Echo he helped the boy’s friend dial 999 after hearing him screaming for help.

Mr Ellison said although he never saw the injured boy’s body, his friend was still in his school uniform.

He claimed he was told by the boy that the pair had returned to the section of railway to retrieve something they had lost there the previous weekend.

Neighbour Sonia Melton, 33, said her 11-year-old son was friends with the boy who died.

She said: “We’re in bits, my heart goes out to his mum.

“Last night we saw all the police and fire engines but we didn’t find out the names until this morning.

“He was a lovely kid, they’re all lovely kids round here. My son used to play out with him.”

DCI Steve Lewis, of British Transport Police, said: “This is an incredibly tragic incident which I know will have shocked many in the local community.

“I would like to extend my deepest condolences to the boy’s family and request that they are given the space and privacy they need to come to terms with this devastating loss.

“While we have no reason to believe there were any suspicious circumstances to this incident, we are still working to establish the full circumstances behind the boy’s death.

“I would like to appeal to anyone in the area who may have seen two young boys on the tracks around this time to get in touch with us.”