Rescue teams used pulleys and ropes to retrieve the teen, who had been playing with friends when he fell down the slope at Merri Creek in Fitzroy North around 4.40pm.

A Metropolitan Fire Brigade spokesman had said the rescue, near Rushall Station, was a difficult operation which could take some time.

A spokeswoman for Ambulance Victoria said the teen had suffer facial bruising and a minor shoulder injury and officers had taken him the Royal Children's Hospital in a stable condition.