A PAPERBOY has had to have part of his finger amputated after he sliced it to the bone on fencing when falling off his bicycle.

Kieran Scollan was delivering his morning round when his bike veered off the path in an alleyway off Nunnery Wood Lane, mounting an embankment and throwing him into a metal fence.

The 13-year-old, who loves playing pool and golf, was taken to Worcestershire Royal Hospital, but his right little finger was so badly injured it had to be amputated to the knuckle.

"When I first did it it wasn't so painful, but gradually as the day went on it got worse," said Kieran, of Canterbury Road, Ronkswood, Worcester.

"It throbs really badly sometimes. I probably won't ride my bike again -- not that one anyway."

The Nunnery Wood High School pupil, who regularly delivers the Worcester News, said the fence around the Central Networks substation was too low and could have caused a more serious injury.

"It could have caught me anywhere from my head and neck to my chest, so I was lucky really," he added.

Kieran's mother, 34-year-old Dawn Allen, said the additional blow was that Kieran writes with his right hand. "My concern is that it could happen again to anybody," she added.

Miss Allen said her son had been brave, but had clearly been affected by the ordeal, which happened about two weeks ago in the alleyway alongside Nunnery Wood Primary School.

"He's quite a strong minded boy, but now he's had the stitches taken out he keeps staring at it and is quite down," she added.

A spokesman for Central Networks said: "We sympathise with the young boy and his family.

"There is a Central Net-works substation on the land which has a tall and secure fence around it.

"There is also an additional three foot high chain link fence around the land the substation sits on and acts as a further deterrent. We always urge the public to stay away from our substations. We are satisfied that the fence is safe and secure and its standard practice to have such a fence around our substation."