Man rescued by crane from flats under construction

Drama at Newbury Racecourse building site

A MAN was rescued by crane and lowered to the ground in a cage in a dramatic rescue at a Newbury Racecourse construction site yesterday (Tues).

Two pumps from Newbury Fire Station were called at 5.50pm to a building site at Newbury Racecourse where flats were under construction.

A 47-year-old man working on the third floor of the building had suffered a suspected back injury, with paramedics already at the scene.

The construction company overseeing the work used an overhead crane with a rescue cage attached to lower the man to ground level on a stretcher.

Firefighters then assisted to carry the stretcher to a waiting ambulance and the man was taken to hospital.

Firefighters left the scene at around 6.50pm.

Derek Harris, a spokesperson for David Wilson Homes Southern said:

“An operative working for a contractor pulled a muscle whilst working on site yesterday afternoon. He was in sufficient pain that the emergency services were called, however, all is fine now and he is planning to be back at work in a matter of days. This was an extremely minor incident, but as health and safety is our number one priority we took it seriously and made sure it was resolved correctly.”

South Central Ambulance Service (SCAS) was called at 4.57pm and sent a specialist paramedic and ambulance, along with the Hazardous Area Response Team (HART).

The man was taken by ambulance to the Basingstoke and North Hampshire Hospital