Neighbours have told how they battled to save the life of a three-year-old boy following a desperate plea for help from his frantic parents.

The air ambulance landed at about 5pm on Wednesday directly opposite the child’s home, on Woodfield Avenue, Staincliffe, Batley , as part of a concerted attempt by emergency services to keep the boy alive.

Tragically he did not survive what police have reported as a “medical episode.” The death is not being treated as suspicious.

One man, a 55-year-old former special constable who previously worked with the fire service, attempted CPR on the boy, who has not been named.

He said the scene in the room was “manic.”

He told the Examiner: “A friend called me and asked me to go down. He said there was a problem with the next-door neighbour’s child.

“We managed to put him on the settee. Another neighbour was on the phone to the emergency services who were giving him information as to what to do, but nothing was happening.

“I worked with the fire service, so I have some skills. I was trying to do CPR – trying to get breaths into him – but there was nothing there at all.

“Quite clearly the people in the house were absolutely distraught. The mother was screaming.

“I have a defibrillator set at my house but I knew I couldn’t use it. It’s for adults, and too big. It wouldn’t have worked.

“We were thinking ‘Where do we go with this?’ It was a case of what we could do. It just seemed manic. Then the air ambulance arrived.”

Another neighbour said the air ambulance “circled round and round” before it landed close to the boy’s house.

“There was a lot of noise because it was really low. The lights flashed through our windows. As I looked out it was landing in the corner of the field. It was there for 35 to 45 minutes.”

The helicopter set down close to Manorfield School immediately next to Woodfield Avenue. It joined a multitude of emergency vehicles – including ambulances, police vans and ambulance responders – that blocked the route into the estate.

The former special constable added: “We all know each other on the street. We all look after each other. It’s a close-knit area and community. For that to happen... I don’t have the words.

“I am devastated for them. They are a fairly young family. It’s awful.”

A spokeswoman for West Yorkshire Police said: “Emergency services were called to Woodfield Avenue at just before 5pm on Wednesday to a report a young male child had suffered a medical episode. The child was taken to hospital where he later died.

“Partner agencies and authorities are supporting the boy’s family.

“Police are not treating the death as suspicious and a file has been prepared for the coroner.”