Child Seriously Hurt at Abandoned Pub in TikTok ‘Urbex’ Trend

A child was seriously hurt falling inside the abandoned Saracens Head pub near Warburton, and Greater Manchester Police have now written to parents across Altrincham about a TikTok-driven “urbex” trend they say is putting young people in real danger. The letter, sent via schools this week, follows what police described as “a sharp rise” in children breaking into unsafe buildings across the Trafford area. The child, whose age has not been released, was found by officers inside the now-closed pub on Paddock Lane last week.

GMP’s Trafford North team said the fall “could easily have been far worse” and warned that “a moment of thrill isn’t worth a lifetime of consequences”. The appeal follows separate warnings from Hertfordshire and Northamptonshire Police earlier this month, as the same TikTok-driven trend has surfaced on force after force across England.

The Fall at the Saracens Head

The Saracens Head sits on Paddock Lane in Warburton, a quiet hamlet between the villages of Dunham Massey and Carrington in the Trafford borough. The pub has been closed for some time, but that has not stopped urban explorers from getting inside, and footage shared on TikTok and seen by the Manchester Evening News shows one explorer walking through the customer areas, behind the bar, and into what appears to be a soft play area.

According to Greater Manchester Police, the child found their way into the building last week and suffered serious injuries in a fall. GMP’s Trafford North team described the case as a warning sign. “We’re seeing a sharp rise in children breaking into abandoned and unsafe buildings across the area. These sites are not playgrounds, they are dangerous, unstable, and can change from one day to the next,” the force said in a statement posted online.

The same statement said the fall at the Saracens Head “could easily have been far worse”. It urged parents to talk to their children about the risks, calling the trade-off “a moment of thrill” against “a lifetime of consequences”. Footage of the Saracens Head posted on TikTok and seen by the Manchester Evening News does not show any fall, and it is not known whether the video is connected to the incident. Cursory searches of “urbex” for the Manchester area surface people filming inside a disused cinema and what appears to be a hospital setting.

A Letter to Every Parent in Altrincham

Greater Manchester Police have not limited their response to a social media post. The force’s neighbourhood policing team in Altrincham has now written directly to parents in the town, with the letter distributed via schools this week. The text of the letter, published in full by the Manchester Evening News, frames urbex as a growing trend across the wider region rather than a one-off. It walks parents through the platforms where the trend is being marketed to young people, and through the kinds of buildings and sites children are being drawn into. The letter’s central message is that no site is safe simply because it looks abandoned from the road.

I am writing to make parents and carers aware of a growing trend among young people known as “Urban Exploring” or “Urbex”. Urban exploring involves individuals entering and exploring abandoned, derelict, disused or vacant buildings and sites. Social media platforms such as TikTok, YouTube, Instagram and Snapchat have helped popularise this activity, with videos often portraying it as exciting, adventurous or harmless. Unfortunately, the reality can be very different. Across Trafford, Greater Manchester and the wider region, there has been an increase in reports of young people entering disused buildings, former industrial premises, construction sites and other unsafe locations. Many of these sites are privately owned and are not intended for public access.

The letter was issued by Inspector Matthew Harvey, of GMP’s neighbourhood policing team in Altrincham, and distributed via schools in the town. It lists specific risks parents should raise with their children, including falls through unsafe structural elements, hidden hazards on sites that appear derelict, and the legal reality of trespassing on privately owned property. Harvey’s appeal closes with a request to parents: to take an active interest in where their children spend their free time, particularly during evenings, weekends and school holidays. Police have not released the age of the child hurt at the Saracens Head, and it is unclear whether any trespass charges will follow.

The Same Warning Is Going Out Across England

Greater Manchester is not the only force putting pen to paper. Hertfordshire Constabulary issued its own public warning on 4 June after several incidents in Borehamwood. Northamptonshire Police put out a near-identical appeal the same day.

PCSO Daniel Lewis, of Hertfordshire Constabulary’s neighbourhood policing team, told parents the sites are “highly unpredictable, with the potential for serious injury to occur without warning”. PCSO Scott Potter, of Northampton’s neighbourhood policing team, said officers were “increasingly seeing young people accessing derelict buildings, empty properties and even climbing onto rooftops, often to film content for social media”.

• Unstable floors and staircases that can collapse without warning
• Broken glass, sharp metal and hazardous materials
• Exposed electrical wiring
• Unsafe roofs and structures weakened by age or weather
• Biological hazards such as asbestos and stagnant water
• The risk of getting trapped in confined or unsecured areas

Gaining entry can also amount to a criminal offence, both forces warn. Hertfordshire cites the Vagrancy Act and the threat of burglary charges where damage or theft is intended. Public Spaces Protection Orders cover some of the sites in Northamptonshire. A year ago, a spate of trespass incidents in Southport led a senior Merseyside officer to urge parents to talk to their children about the dangers of entering empty and derelict buildings. The shared language across forces points to the same source: footage posted by teenagers to TikTok and Instagram.

The TikTok Pipeline for Teen Explorers

The TikTok pipeline behind the trend has been laid out in a long investigation of the accounts filming inside abandoned sites. The BBC was able to confirm that boys under 18 are behind a number of TikTok accounts featuring explorations of power stations, slaughterhouses, care homes, bunkers and even private houses across the North West.

One of those accounts belongs to Liam, who did not want his surname published to protect his future job prospects. He started filming himself exploring abandoned buildings in Merseyside when he was 12, and his TikTok following has grown steadily since. He told the BBC the trend’s popularity among under-18s had “definitely grown even since I started it and that wasn’t that long ago”, with younger trespassers more likely to trash the buildings or set fire to them.

A pair of Manchester-based urbex veterans, Alex and Alistair, are 24 now but began at 14 and have built a YouTube channel called Urbandoned. The duo say they now regret inspiring a younger generation. “It’s possible we’ve inspired it, so we would like to say you really shouldn’t follow our footsteps unless you’re completely sure about what you’re doing and you take it really seriously”, Alistair told the BBC. The pair’s longer-form videos are the kind of content TikTok’s guidelines say should not be promoted.

TikTok’s rules state the platform does not allow content that “shows or promotes dangerous activities” or that is “likely to be imitated and that could cause significant physical harm”. The BBC shared a list of videos depicting urban explorers filming inside an abandoned asbestos factory in Greater Manchester with the platform’s press office, and all of them remained live at the time. One was filmed by a boy who confirmed to the BBC he was under 18.

• 4,200: TikTok followers on Liam’s under-18-started account
• 146,000: YouTube subscribers on the Manchester-built Urbandoned channel
• five: TikTok videos of a Greater Manchester asbestos factory still live despite platform rules
• one: of those five videos filmed by a boy who told the BBC he was under 18

What the Cameras Don’t Show

Asbestos is the biggest single risk in exploring most abandoned buildings, according to Ryan Swindells of Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service. “If you’re walking anywhere near where the asbestos is and it’s been disturbed, it’s been broken, all the fibres will get into the air and it’ll go into your lungs and it latches onto your lungs”, Swindells told the BBC. “Once it’s in there it won’t come out ever.” The substance is invisible, and the urbex videos that go viral rarely mention it.

Swindells also pointed to a second cost of each callout: firefighters are sent into unsafe buildings to recover injured explorers, “unnecessarily because we don’t have to be in there in the first place”. The owners of the asbestos factory in Rochdale, filmed by the under-18 TikToker, have themselves warned that trespassers risk disturbing fibres that can cause cancer if even small amounts are breathed in. Bradley Garrett, an academic at the University of Sydney who has embedded with urban explorers in London and written several books on the subject, agreed there has been a surge of teenage explorers. Most of the explorers he met a decade ago, he said, were in their 20s or 30s with a deep interest in history or architecture. Today’s teenagers, he said, are chasing a different prize: “If I can go out and get into these places and get amazing photos and garner a huge amount of likes I can become an influencer and build my own career.”

The Legal Side: Trespass, Asbestos, and Damage

Urbex sits in a legal grey area in England. Trespass is generally treated as a civil matter, meaning the building’s owner would normally have to take court action against an explorer, but the act of getting in can involve criminal offences along the way.

Hertfordshire Constabulary has explicitly warned that anyone entering enclosed land or buildings without lawful authority may be committing an offence under the Vagrancy Act. Where entry is combined with intent to cause damage or steal, the charge can be burglary, which carries a far heavier sentence. Both forces are also using Public Spaces Protection Orders, where applicable, to push back against the trend.

GMP has not said yet whether the child hurt at the Saracens Head, or their family, will face any action, and it has not released the child’s age. The force has, however, said patrols around derelict sites will be increased and “anyone found inside these buildings may face further action”. GMP’s online plea also lists the Manchester sites that have already been entered by urban explorers: the former Coronation Street set, Stretford mall, the Saracens Head itself, a disused cinema, and what appears to be a hospital setting. Each of those sites is a candidate for the next callout.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is “urbex”?

Urbex, short for “urban exploration”, describes entering and exploring abandoned, derelict, disused or vacant buildings and sites, often filming the visit for social media. Greater Manchester Police, in Inspector Matthew Harvey’s letter to Altrincham parents, defined it as a practice in which individuals enter “abandoned, derelict, disused or vacant buildings and sites”.

Why are police warning about it now?

UK forces say they are seeing a sharp rise in children getting into unsafe buildings to film. The trigger for the latest round of warnings was the fall at the Saracens Head pub near Warburton, but Hertfordshire Constabulary, Northamptonshire Police and Merseyside Police have all issued similar appeals in recent weeks, months and years.

What are the dangers inside abandoned buildings?

Hertfordshire Constabulary’s public list runs from unstable floors and staircases that can collapse without warning, to broken glass, exposed electrical wiring, unsafe roofs, asbestos, stagnant water, and the risk of getting trapped in confined spaces. Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service adds that asbestos fibres, once inhaled, do not leave the lungs.

Is urbex illegal in the UK?

Trespass on its own is generally a civil matter, but police forces warn that the act of entry can involve criminal offences. Hertfordshire Constabulary has cited the Vagrancy Act, and warns that entry with intent to cause damage or steal can amount to burglary. Some sites are also covered by Public Spaces Protection Orders.

What should parents do if their child is interested?

Inspector Harvey’s letter to Altrincham parents asks them to talk to their children about the dangers, take an active interest in where they are spending their free time, and discuss how social media trends can drive decision-making. PCSO Daniel Lewis of Hertfordshire Constabulary has urged parents and guardians to “have conversations with children about the dangers and to ensure they understand that entering abandoned buildings is both unsafe and against the law”.