East of England Ambulance Service

A FARMER has been taken to hospital after a one tonne hay bale fell on him.

Firefighters and paramedics rushed to the man’s aid at a small holding in Short Grove, Newport, when he raised the alarm using his mobile phone at about 11.50am this morning (Thursday).

Two fire crews from Saffron Walden and another from Newport used airbags to lift the bale off him and he was taken to hospital with abdominal injuries.

Station officer at Saffron Walden, Paul Curtis, said the man, who was in his 60s, would not have been able to call the emergency services if he had not had his mobile phone in his pocket.

“The man was trapped up to his head by the hay bale and he was struggling to breathe with the weight of the bale on him,” he explained.

“The man had been out setting up feed for pheasants in his tractor on a small holding. He was out working on his own when the one tonne hay bale fell off a stack and landed on top of him, trapping him face down into the mud.”

Firefighters administered oxygen therapy to the farmer and he was placed in the care of the ambulance service.