A THREE-YEAR-OLD boy who was critically ill in hospital after being found in a garden pond has died, police said today.

The child was taken to Birmingham Childrens Hospital after he was discovered in the water in the rear garden of a residential property in Moseley, Birmingham, shortly before 5.30pm yesterday.

The boy had been reported missing to police around an hour earlier.

Pond ... scene where toddler fell

West Midlands Police confirmed today that the boy died in hospital shorty before midnight.

A force spokesman said: "We can confirm that sadly he has died.

"West Midlands Police sends its sincere condolences to his family.
It was a tragic accident. We ask that the family are left alone to grieve."

Police arrived at the scene in Anderton Park Road before paramedics and tired to revive the toddler, West Midlands Ambulance Service said.

A spokeswoman for West Midlands Police said: "Police were called to reports of a missing three-year-old boy at approximately 4.26pm from an address in Coppice Road, Moseley.

"The boy was later found in a pond in a residential garden in the area and was taken to hospital."

The police spokeswoman said formal identification of the boy had not yet taken place.

She said: "It is not been treated as suspicious at this stage. A post-mortem will take place in due course