(Image: Northumbria Police)
A warning has been issued over a dangerous social media trend after a 13-year-old boy fell five storeys through a glass roof at a disused hotel.
Police are urging young people to stay out of abandoned buildings after a series of incidents involving teenagers filming themselves and posting the footage online.
Emergency crews in Newcastle rescued the boy after he fell through the roof of the city-centre hotel on Sunday night.
Despite the five-storey fall, he was not seriously injured.
The incident came just weeks after a 14-year-old girl fractured three vertebrae falling through a glass roof of another disused Newcastle building.
The girl’s mother said young people were risking their lives for “views and likes” on social media.
She said: "My advice to any young person thinking of doing this kind of thing is don't because it is extremely dangerous and worst scenario you could be killed.
"She's ended up with three fractured vertebrae and had to undergo surgery on her hand too. She also had a bang to her head when she fell."
Northumbria Police says it has received several reports of youngsters entering former shops, factories, schools, hotels and churches across the force area.
Officers have also been called to rescue children who became stuck on roofs.
Neighbourhood Inspector Karen Madge said: "Teenagers may not realise it, but entering these kinds of buildings can have life-changing consequences.
"We have already had one teenage girl sustain serious back injuries following a fall at a building in Newcastle city centre back in August.
Read more
Unregulated slimming jabs and machetes seized in North East police raids
MP says crime 'won't be tolerated' after suspected arson rips through Aycliffe homes
County Durham festivalgoer tried to smuggle £4k drug haul into Creamfields
"We cannot emphasise enough how dangerous this type of behaviour is and there is a real concern that someone could be killed.
"Every time a person goes into a disused building, they are putting themselves and those around them in harm's way."
Police are urging parents and carers to warn young people about the dangers of entering abandoned buildings before half-term.