A SIX-YEAR-OLD boy was airlifted to hospital with a head injury after he fell out of a tree.

The boy had been visiting the Smugglers Inn at Osmington Mills with his family when the accident happened on Saturday evening.

Witnesses said the boy had been in a play area next to the pub and was lying motionless on the ground after falling.

He was taken for treatment to Dorset County Hospital in Dorchester by the Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance which landed in a field behind the pub.

His condition was not known last night. Local resident Kevan Sheehan said the boy may have been unconscious.

He said: “He was very still, he was either unconscious or not moving at all, and swathed in blankets, he was just a little bundle. His parents were there with him – it must have been horrible for them.

“They must have been within feet of him when it happened.”

Mr Sheehan said he was walking on the coastal path near the pub when he saw what had happened.

“I didn’t see the accident itself but I was there quite soon after,” he said.

“I was walking my dog in the evening and I passed the play area to the side of the pub right by the coastal path.

“There was a group of children standing around a tree in the middle, they were all very agitated.

“Then I saw the boy wrapped in the blankets, his parents were with him.

“He had fallen out of a tree.”

He said: “It’s a willow tree in the play area. It’s about 20 feet high and all the kids have made a habit of climbing it.

“There’s a big tyre or swing hung off it and a lot of low branches, it would be quite easy for them to climb.

“The fall must have been quite nasty and the parents looked very, very concerned.”

He added: “I saw the road ambulance arrive first and then the helicopter was circling around.

“The paramedics were there for some time, about an hour I think.

“It must have been horrible for the family – they all seemed quite distressed.

“I don’t think it could have been anyone’s fault – it was just seriously unlucky. It’s very sad.”

Another resident, Peter Hales, said he saw the helicopter land in fields near to his house.

He said: “The first thing I knew was when I heard the helicopter.

“It landed in the fields just out the back of the Smugglers pub.

“From what I understand the lad fell out of a tree at the pub and landed on his head.

“The pilot told me he had possible cranial and spinal injuries, which is why they decided to use the air ambulance.”

A spokesman for Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance said: “The service airlifted a six-year-old boy from Osmington Mills who had fallen from a tree.

“He was taken by helicopter to Dorset County Hospital with head injuries.”

The Smugglers Inn did not want to comment on the incident.