Craig Woodhouse

A British schoolgirl who suffered serious injuries when she fell more than 30ft from the window of an Italian hotel had her life saved by a canopy below, hotel staff said last night.

The teenager, named in reports as 16-year-old Su Cangatin-Ripley, remains in hospital after the fall, which happened in the early hours of Saturday during a week-long school choir trip to Venice.

Luca Fullin, who works at the Hotel Cristallo at Venice's Lido, said: "The girl had been sitting in the window smoking when she fell on to the canopy below. It was extremely lucky the canopy was open, because in all likelihood it saved her life. It was a fall of around 10-12m.

"She was taken to hospital and we have been told she is in quite a bad state, with several injuries including to her lungs. I understand her parents are with her there.

"At times there had been up to three girls sitting on the window ledge, and some of them had been moving from room to room.

"This is an old building and clearly the window ledges are not meant to support that kind of weight.

"The fire brigade have since removed the ledge to be sure there was no risk of it falling on to anyone below."

Mr Fullin said the group of guests - from Emanuel School in Battersea, south-west London - had been due to leave early on Saturday.

They were due to attend a concertlast night, he added.

A Foreign Office spokesman said yesterday: "We can confirm a British national was injured and in hospital in Venice. We are offering consular assistance."

No-one from the co-educational school was available for comment last night.

The teenager was out of danger and off the critical list last night, Italian news agency Ansa said.

A spokesman for the hospital said she would be moved from intensive care to a paediatric ward.

Further tests are due to be carried out on her liver, kidneys and lungs, Ansa said.

Emanuel School was founded in 1594 by Lady Dacre, near where Buckingham Palace now stands, with provision for 10 boys and 10 girls .

It moved to the borough of Wandsworth in 1883, taking over the buildings and grounds of an orphanage for boys who had lost their fathers in wars overseas.

The school, which costs £4410 a term, now has more than 700 students, aged between 10 and 18.