A 10-YEAR-OLD girl today told of her terrifying ordeal trapped down a drain.

Chanelle Edwards got stuck after falling down the grid outside her Liverpool home.

She fell while playing with friends in Lavender Way, Walton, yesterday afternoon.

She was trapped for almost an hour as firefighters armed with drills battled to break the concrete and free her.

Today the St Nicholas Catholic Primary School pupil said she was watching her two-year-old brother CJ play in the street when the toddler strayed dangerously close to the drain.

She said: “I went to help him but I fell in myself.

“I had one foot stuck on a pipe and the other foot was submerged in water. When I tried to push myself out and I couldn't I started to cry.

“My mum came out and she thought I was joking and told me to get out.

“But I couldn’t budge so she called the ambulance.

“Other kids in the street were videoing it on their mobile phones and saying they would put it on YouTube.

“When the fire brigade came I got really upset because they got out these drills and said they were going to have to cut around the drain.

“They started cutting and I could feel vibrating up my sides and on my back. There was dust everywhere.

“I was so happy when I finally got out. But I’m covered in bruises and I’ve got scratches all over me.”

“I hope the teachers don’t think this is an excuse to stay off school.”

Firefighters said the grid cover was broken some time ago and a piece of cardboard placed over the hole as a temporary measure.

They said if Chanelle had fallen 18 inches further she would have landed on the ground underneath the road.

Gary Leith, from Merseyside Fire Service’s search and rescue team, said: “It was a small hole but big enough for a small girl to fall down.

“It was a dangerous situation and she was lucky not to escape with more serious injuries.

“She stayed brave as we worked to help her.”

Mum Patsy-Ann Graham said: “We can laugh about it now but it wasn’t nice for Chanelle and she was really sore last night.

“What if it had been my two-year-old who had fallen down?

“We wouldn’t have known he was down there for ages.”