A terrified three-year-old boy was left trapped after he disappeared down a 10ft sewer as his horrified mother looked on.

Little Sol Cambell was playing in a communal garden outside his home when he stepped on the drain cover and plunged through.

Mother Karen, 35, who watched as her little boy vanished from sight, mounted her own rescue attempt with a friend who helped her lift the heavy drain cover for her to climb down into the dark, smelly hole.

She said: “He ran down to the drain, stepped on it and it flipped and closed on him as he fell.

“I was standing by the door of my flat and I saw him run down and then he just disappeared.

“How I lifted that drain cover I don't know but I got the strength from somewhere.”

She then climbed down into the dank 10ft sewer and pulled Sol out. She said a piece of wood and some old cardboard must have broken her son's fall as he escaped serious injury in the accident on Sunday morning.

She said: “I brought him up and he was covered in everything. I got him changed and then drove him to A&E. Luckily he only had cuts and bruises.

“He was in shock after it happened. I haven't stopped shaking since it happened.”

The mother believes the drain cover may not have been closed properly after it was recently cleaned.

The garden at the Ghyllside block of flats in Meadow View, Brighton, is managed by Downland Housing Association.

After the accident a friend of the Cambells covered the drain with wood to stop anyone else being injured.

Julian Chun, the director of property services for the organisation, said: "In line with our procedures we instructed a drainage company to check the condition of the drain as a matter of urgency.

“We realise this incident has been very distressing for Ms Cambell and her family and we will be investigating to find out how the incident occurred.”