A young boy is in a stable condition in hospital today after plunging through the roof of a derelict building into a vat of caustic soda, police said.

The nine-year-old was playing football with friends on a car park in Rawmarsh, Rotherham, when he went to retrieve the ball from the roof of a disused workshop.

He was climbing to reach the ball when the roof of the building gave way and the boy crashed through to the ground below landing in a tank containing a chemical once used to strip furniture.

The youngster was initially taken to Rotherham District General Hospital before being transferred to the burns unit at Sheffield Children’s Hospital, where his condition is stable, South Yorkshire.