A CAVE rescuer told an inquest how he battled to save a schoolboy who died after he became trapped by rising water during a class potholing trip.

Christopher Fox, the first rescuer on the scene, found Joseph Daniel Lister face-down in a flooded cave.

The 14-year-old, ten other children and three adults were in the 500- metre-long Manchester Hole cave at Bewerley Park Outdoor Education Centre, near Pateley Bridge, North Yorkshire, on November 14 2005, when the water began to rise rapidly.

Some of Joseph's classmates reached safety using air pockets in the narrow flooded passage.

However, the inquest heard that Joseph got into difficulties and became separated from the group.

Giving evidence on the first day of the hearing yesterday, Mr Fox said he decided to head into the flooded cave on his own while fellow rescuers were still making their way to the scene, in the Yorkshire Dales.

He said: "I made the decision to go in there and try and collect him before he sustained further injuries."

As he advanced down the cave, Mr Fox said the water had already begun to recede, but he realised something serious had happened.

He said: "I started to find wellies, suggesting someone had left in a hurry. There had obviously been a flooding problem.

"I still expected to find Joe around the corner, very cold and frightened."

He said he found Joseph's body at the end of the cave with his head down in the water 230 metres from the entrance and 75 metres below the main chamber.

He tried to resuscitate Joseph, but he was pronounced dead at hospital.

The cause of death was drowning.

Joseph, a pupil at Tadcaster Grammar School, in North Yorkshire, was on a trip learning basic principles of caving with ten classmates and three adults.

Earlier, cave expert Alan Crossley told the jury sitting at Harrogate Magistrates' Court that Manchester Hole was considered an easy challenge, but said people exploring the cave system had to keep an eye on the weather because it could flood in wet and windy conditions.

He said the cave was below two reservoirs and people needed to be wary of them in poor weather.

He said: "I check the weather conditions prior to an event and also on the morning. That is the key element for taking people caving."

Mr Crossley said strong winds could force water over the top of one of the reservoirs, Scarhouse, and down towards Manchester Hole and another cave called Goyden Pot.

He said: It (the water) hits Goyden Pot and backs up through that system and back up Manchester Hole.

"I check the reservoir on nearly every occasion. I think it is essential."

Mr Crossley said that four or five days before the tragedy there had been a "tremendous amount of rain"

and the reservoir had swollen.

The inquest was adjourned until today.