AN 82-year-old man suffered a seven-hour ordeal after becoming trapped between a stair lift rail and wall.

Frank Higham, a former councillor of 30 years until 1997, landed with his leg stuck after falling five feet down the stairs at his home in Larkhill, Blackburn, at around 1am.

Mr Higham's voice was hoarse from shouting for help as his attempts to free himself failed.

At 8.30am he finally roused assistance from his next-door neighbour, Margaret Flannagan, who has been praised by Mr Higham's family for her help.

She called for an ambulance but paramedics were unable to free him. It took firefighters to screw the rail from the wall before Mr Higham could be freed and taken to Blackburn Royal Infirmary.

He had 14 butterfly stitches to a gash on his arm and has badly bruised his ribs.

Mr Higham's son, Ged Higham, said his dad was suffering from shock which nurses in Queen's Park Hospital were attempting to stabilise.

He added: "For a normal person his injuries would be okay but because of his age it is a lot more serious.

"The nurses aren't telling us how serious it is but we are keeping our fingers crossed that he will make a full recovery. We expect he will be in hospital for about two weeks."

It appears Mr Higham, who was Blackburn Council leader during his career as a councillor, fell when after getting out of the stair lift to push the reset button on Saturday.

As a safety precaution, stair lifts come to a halt when there is any minor obstruction on the track. It can only be activated again by pressing the button.

Mr Ged Higham said that his dad was very independent and lived on his own despite having bad arthritis in his legs.

He added: "It was a harrowing ordeal for him. He is hoarse from shouting. We are so grateful to Margaret, his next door neighbour."

Margaret Flannagan said: "It was just by chance that I heard him. He wasn't speaking very loud. I had come back from shopping and heard someone talking and thought someone was after me.

"Then I listened again and heard 'help, help'. I have a key to his house because I have know him for years so I went in.

"He said 'am I glad to see you!'"

Council Leader Bill Taylor said: "We were sorry to hear what happened to Frank and hope he has a speedy recovery."