Firefighters rescue builder from trench

3:13pm Wednesday 26th November 2008

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A BUILDER was trapped up to his waist in earth for more than two hours when the foundation trench he was working in capsized.

The man became stuck when mud fell onto him as he prepared trenches for utility services to a new house on the outskirts of Rushyford, near Newton Aycliffe, yesterday afternoon.

Firefighters from Bishop Auckland and Newton Aycliffe had to painstakingly dig the labourer free by clearing earth, loosened by the recent wet weather, from the trench by hand.

Using scaffolding panels that were on the building site, firefighters shored the sides of the trench to prevent more mud falling onto his body.

Throughout the rescue paramedics administered medical treatment to the man who was freed after two hours, at around 2.15pm.

He was airlifted to the University Hospital of North Tees, in Stockton, where he was being treated last night.

It is thought he suffered a broken leg and was close to hyperthermia due to exposure to the cold.

Newton Aycliffe station manager, Andrew Allison, said: "The person in there was taking out soil with their hands.

"There was no question of using a couple of shovels or a digger to speed things up because our main priority was to make the scene safe, for him and our crews.

"It was heavy, painstaking work so we swapped the crews around and the contractors cut up boards for us to use as shoring.

"It was a very successful operation, no-one suffered injuries and we hope the man who was trapped escaped with relatively minor injuries, it could have been much worse."