A TODDLER fell down part of a suspected disused mine shaft after an 8ft deep hole opened up in a garden.

The two-year-old was playing at home in Park Road, Newhall, when a paving slab gave way.

The child ended up at the bottom of the hole – but was unhurt.

The family did not want to talk about the incident last night, but a spokesman for Derbyshire Fire and Rescue Service said a 47-year-old man, thought to be the toddler's dad, climbed into the hole to rescue the youngster.

He managed to lift the child out of the hole, but then could not get out himself.

Firefighters from Swadlincote were called to the property and used a ladder to lift the man to safety. He was also uninjured.

The pair were checked by ambulance staff at the scene.

The incident happened just before 10am yesterday.

The area has been cordoned off by engineers from the National Coal Authority, who will today fill the hole with concrete.

Swadlincote station's watch manager, Dave Cork, said the pair were lucky not to have been injured.

He said: "The slab he (the youngster) was standing on went vertically down into the hole, which was about as wide as the slab itself.

''The 47-year-old man was walking in the garden and heard a noise, turned and saw that the child had gone into the hole.

"He jumped into the hole and lifted the child out. Neither the young child or the man who jumped in to help had any injuries – they were very, very lucky."

A spokesman for the NCA confirmed that engineers had attended the property and fenced off the hole.

Further safety checks will be carried out in the next few days. The land where the hole opened up had been used for mining for many years and provided coal for breweries in Burton.

Brick-making and the manufacture of clay products were also big industries in the area.

The mining that took place in Newhall was from the Bretby colliery, which had hundreds of mine shafts and closed in 1966.

Much of the land either side of Park Road is now open fields which have been known to subside in parts.

Monica Hudson, from South Derbyshire Mining Preservation Group, said the last major subsidence was at Sainsbury's, in Swadlincote, about three years ago.