Teenage boy drowns after playing with raft

Police today recovered the body of a 15-year-old boy who drownedafter playing on a makeshift raft.

The teenager was playing with four friends just before midnightwhen they all fell into the pond off Senator Road in St Helens,Merseyside.

The boy's companions managed to escape from the freezing water toraise the alarm but he could not be saved. His body was recovered byMerseyside Police's underwater search team.

A force spokesman said the boy's family have been informed andformal identification was expected to take place today.

Today, two police officers stood guard at the spot, known locallyas the Clegg, where the children are thought to have entered thewater.