A MOTHER has told of her terror as she saw her four-year-old son stuck on a 30ft-high roof.

George Groves clambered on to the roof looking for an escape, after he accidentally became stuck in a bathroom on the top floor.

Firefighters had to rescue the boy from the roof of the home in The Slade, Wood Farm. George’s mum Ying said: “I was terrified, but I knew in that moment I had to be calm for him.

“I feel very lucky that he was so calm, and I am so proud of him.

“I felt very emotional and very teary afterwards. I still get teary now.”

She added: “I do hope people do not label me as irresponsible. I really regret that I did not go upstairs to check, but I was planning to check after we finished lunch.

“George is always very careful and sensible so I trusted him to be safe.”

The fire crew from Slade Park station found George sat in the plastic guttering, which they described as “perilous, flexible and weak”. They said it “could have given way at any time”.

The crew rescued him using a 13.5-metre ladder.

Dr Groves, who owns an online lingerie business, said: “I did hear a cry, but because it came from outside I didn’t think about it.

“George doesn’t cry like that. I didn’t think there was any risk.

“I have no idea how long he was up there, maybe a half-hour.”

The 51-year-old, who lives with George and her husband Richard in North Oxford, said: “He was sitting in the lotus position. He was very still, very quiet and very calm.

“All he said was ‘Mummy, I want a cuddle’.”

Dr Groves and her son had popped round to visit Karen Chen’s home on Wednesday afternoon.

The homeowner Mrs Chen said: “George and his mum came round for lunch.

“We were sitting down in the dining room and eating, and George went off to play in the bedroom upstairs.

“There’s a bathroom and the door is a bit funny, you have to slide it rather than pull it like a normal door. He couldn’t get out, and it was a hot day so the window was open.”

George climbed on top of the toilet and through the open window on to the roof.

Nazakat Ali, who works at the nearby BMW garage, raised the alarm.

The 36-year-old Headington resident said: “I was cycling very slowly, and I saw the boy on the roof and I stopped. I was really shocked.

“The boy said ‘Help me please’, so I knocked on the door.

“It was just lucky that he called out. Honestly, I was so shocked. My son, Ayaan, is that age, and the idea of it happening to him is bad.”

Mrs Chen, 52, said: “A passer-by knocked on the door and he was so impatient, I thought he was a postman delivering a parcel.

“As soon as I opened the door he grabbed me by the arm and dragged me out to the front and shouted ‘Boy on the roof!’ My heart just stopped.”

She said: “We are so grateful. I really want to be able to thank him.”

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