A MAN lay for five hours in the soft mud of the banks of the River Lune in Lancaster this week.

Eventually firefighters pulled Ronald Vachon, 45, clear in a desperate struggle against the rising tide.

Mr Vachon fell nine metres from the bridge into the mud from St George's Quay on Friday. He was treated at the scene by paramedics before being taken to the RLI for treatment for serious injuries.

Yesterday (Wednesday) he was said to be comfortable and stable at the RLI.

One firefighter commented: "It turned out he had been there for five hours before we got the call. The police and the ambulance men were in attendance men were in attendance as two firefighters went out to put him in a basket. We wanted to use out inflatable walkway which is like a raft. We couldn't in the end because the tide was coming in really quickly. We just had to haul him up on the basket stretcher. He couldn't move because his injuries were too bad. We were called out at about 10.30am on Friday."

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