A TEENAGE girl has told how she survived a 30ft fall onto a concrete floor.

Lauren Holmes, 15, fell through a hole in the roof of a derelict building last Saturday night.

Emergency service were called to Elemore Lane in High Pittington, near Durham, at 10pm.

Lauren, who attends Durham Community Business College, had been with a group of ten friends.

She said: “I was walking along and not looking where I was going and just fell down.

“I banged my chin on the top of a ladder. I cannot remember falling but my friends said I was screaming all the way down. My friends were panicking and did not know if I was okay.”

Meanwhile, Lauren’s mother, Michala was wondering where she was because she had told her to be back at the their home in Kingston Avenue, Bearpark, Durham, at 10pm.

Miss Holmes, 31, a social work student and catering assistant, said: “I rang her mobile and someone answered it – but all I could hear was screaming.

“Someone was shouting ‘get an ambulance’ and I did not know what was going on.”

It took paramedics and firefighters an hour to place Lauren on a stretcher in case she had any spinal injuries and hoist her to safety.

Her mother got in touch with Lauren’s friends’ parents, who told her what had happened and that Lauren had been taken to University Hospital of North Durham, in Durham City.

She said: “All I was told was that she had fallen about 30ft.

“I went into a state of panic. It was awful.”

Lauren suffered a gash to her chin, which needed ten stitches, and bruising that has left her with a sore leg and back. She left hospital on Monday and is recovering at home.

She said: “I am quite shocked about what happened but feel very fortunate.”

Police said her experience highlighted the dangers of hanging around derelict buildings.

Inspector Paul Anderson said: “We would like to warn youngsters to stay away from dangerous areas like this. Lauren has been very, very lucky. She could have been seriously injured or killed.”