A MAN was airlifted to hospital after a three-hour operation to free him from his 38-tonne lorry when it overturned on a roundabout.

The accident, involving a lorry and a car, happened on Rawtenstall's fire station roundabout off Bury Road which leads to the by-pass.

The lorry shed its load of fish from Aberdeen on to the roundabout.

Emergency services, including six fire engines, ambulances, the air ambulance and the police were on hand to help free the driver of the lorry who had been trapped for three hours.

A woman who was driving another vehicle was taken to hospital for treatment to leg injuries.

A spokesman for the fire and rescue service said: "We used specialist equipment to help free the man. A crane had to be used as well as our aerial ladder platform."

The accident brought traffic to a stand-still, with some motorists stuck in a queue which backed-up more than half a mile from 11am until 2.30pm.

A spokesman for the ambulance service said: "We sent three ambulances, a helicopter and accident officer and an X-ray doctor to the scene."

"One of the patients was airlifted by helicopter to the Royal Preston Hospital and the other was take to Fairfield in Bury."

Neither driver was thought to have suffered serious injuries.