A 20-YEAR-old worker was airlifted to hospital with crush injuries after getting his arm caught in an industrial machine.

Firefighters and ambulance crews were called to Environmental Waste Recycling Ltd, a skip hire company on Colne Road in Kelbrook, at around 1.15pm yesterday.

They found the man with the top half of his right arm trapped between a roller and a metal post of an environmental waste machine.

Firefighters used airbags and specialist equipment to free the man and the North West Air Ambulance flew him to Royal Preston Hospital with crush-type injuries to his dislocated arm.

The hospital was put on stand-by for his arrival. A man who works nearby, who did not want to give his name, said: “A helicopter landed at around 1.30pm in front of the company’s shed. I was amazed it could actually land there. I noticed it because of the amount of the amount of dust and noise. I knew somebody had been hurt but I did not know what had happened.”

A spokesman for Lancashire Police said officers were called by the fire brigade.

She said: “The man was taken to Royal Preston Hospital with a serious injury to his arm.

“An investigation will be carried out by HSE.”

Environmental Waste Recycling Ltd has offices in Kelbrook, Accrington, Keighley and Skipton.

On its website, it describes itself as ‘a family-owned business established in June 2005’.

No-one from the company was available for comment yesterday afternoon.