THE dad of a 12-year-old girl has thanked the emergency services who came to his daughter's aid when she broke her leg jumping into a river in Wellington on Friday.

The Devon Air Ambulance landed in Fox’s Field, Wellington, after the youngster was hurt.

She was one of a group of children swimming and jumping into a river flowing alongside the field, during Friday's school teachers' training day.

The 12-year-old was believed to have missed the deeper part of the river and landed in shallows, where she suffered the injury.

The air ambulance circled over Tonedale at about 2.30 pm and landed shortly before the arrival of a land ambulance crew from the South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust.

The injured youth was treated on the river bank by paramedics from both the helicopter and land ambulance and given oxygen.

She was then stretchered across the field to the ambulance waiting in Weavers Reach, the closest road to the scene, to be taken to Musgrove Park Hospital, Taunton.

This week, the father of the injured girl has thanked his daughter's rescuers. He said: "I would like to thank, Devon Air Ambulance, Southwest Ambulance Service, all the staff in A&E, the children’s ward and the surgeons and theatre team at Musgrove.

"We as a family are very grateful for all the help, support and treatment you have given us as a family, and a thanks to Court Fields school for their support."

Fox’s Field is part of land which was bought by the former Somerset West and Taunton Council and then leased for 150 years to Wellington Town Council along with 60 acres of other land in The Basins area.

Town clerk Dave Farrow said the town council was sorry to hear about the incident in Fox’s Field although as yet it had not been formally informed of the detail.

Mr Farrow said: “That spot is a popular one for swimming and jumping and has been for many years without incident.

“We will be reviewing whether warning signage is necessary with our health and safety advisers, but in the meantime would ask that anybody wanting to enjoy that spot, or any of the waterways in the ‘green corridor’, does so responsibly, for example by checking the depth of the water before jumping in.”