Boy, 5, dies after fall from balcony

Nicholas Thatcher, five, died after falling from the 11th- floor landing balcony of a tower block in Lewisham, south-east London, owned by Greenwich council. Council officers said the screen round the balcony complied with regulations when it was built 20 years ago, but the chairman of housing, Pete Challis, said they were examining 'what further safety measures can be immediately introduced'.

The boy, who lived near the flats, was put on a life-support machine in the Royal London Hospital in Whitechapel, east London, but it was turned off when tests showed he was dead.