A nine-year-old Warwick boy was admitted to the children's ward at King Edward VII Memorial VII Hospital after he slipped off the roof at the Salt Kettle Ferry Terminal yesterday afternoon.

According to Police, the boy - believed to be from the Cobb's Hill area - was swimming with friends when the accident occurred around 2.30 p.m.

It is believed that he fell and hit the dock before landing in the water. A worker in the area described what happened when the events unfolded: "I was over at a house nearby when I heard someone scream, `Call 911! Call 911!'," he said. "When I ran down there to see what was going on, the boy was in a lot of pain."

The man said the boy, who was swimming with older boys thought to be about 12 years old, must have hit his chin on the steps of the dock as it was badly scraped.

"Luckily, one of his friends was in the water when he fell, because he was able to pull him out of the water right away," said the man, who refused to identify himself.

Although there is a sign at the dock which clearly stated that swimming, fishing and diving were prohibited, one neighbour said children swim there from time to time.

"I've seen them at least twice during the last two weeks," she said. "Not with any adults, just young boys."

Although the boy's injuries were not thought to have been life threatening, the neighbour expressed her disgust with someone who had parked their Mitsubishi Space Wagon on the narrow road leading to the terminal. "Because of where they parked, the ambulance was unable to get to the boy, so the EMT's had to offload their equipment and transport it to the injured child,"she said.

Someone shared her sentiments as they stuck a hostile note to the car's windshield. Police also issued a ticket.

At press time, the boy was still undergoing treatment.