Southport zorbing injury: Dust-devil footage investigated

Police investigating how a nine-year-old boy was injured while zorbing have said they are analysing footage which appeared to show a dust-devil nearby.

The boy was hurt when the inflatable ball he was in was swept into the air at the Southport Food and Drink Festival in Victoria Park on Sunday.

Merseyside Police said the footage, which was captured near the park, would "form part of our investigation".

It previously said the boy's injuries were not life-threatening.

The mobile phone video, which was captured by Neil Boulton from Birkdale on a road close to the park, is believed to have been taken moments before the ball was lifted into the air.

'Very scary'

Mr Boulton's partner Leah Walsh said she was at the festival and witnessed the commotion after the boy's fall.

She said she spoke to Mr Boulton to ask him if he knew what had happened, but said he did not.

She said she had her back "to what had happened, but you could hear people were horrified".

"It was very scary," she said.

"It came from nowhere [as] it had been such a lovely day."

The boy had been zorbing at the time he was injured, an activity which sees participants secured inside the inner capsule of a large, inflated, transparent ball, which is then rolled along the ground.

Merseyside Police said it was "aware of the video and it will form part of our investigation".

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