A young farm worker was airlifted to hospital after falling into a potato washing machine.

The emergency services were called to a Scarisbrick farm near Martin Mere on Tuesday morning - it's thought the man in his 20's might have lost one of his legs after the horrific accident.

Tarleton, Ormskirk and Chorley fire crews responded to the call which saw him trapped by the legs in the machine; fire-fighters rescued the casualty and he was taken to hospital by air ambulance from the farm on Long Meanygate, behind Martin Mere.

An NWAS PR officer told QLocal yesterday: "The call came to us at 8:22 and the patient in his mid-20s was taken to Royal Preston Hospital. He had injuries to his legs. This was a major trauma."

The NWAA was also in attendance and flew the worker to Royal Preston Hospital - an Ormskirk PC called to the incident spoke of his respect for the NWAA crew and how its pilot managed to land and take off in very bad weather.

The Health and Safety Executive’s been informed of the incident - farm workers are more at risk of serious injury than in many other occupations: http://www.hse.gov.uk/statistics/ind...ture/index.htm