A MAN was trapped upside down in his car after he drove into a shallow river in Rawtenstall.

He was freed from the River Irwell, Stacksteads, at about 3.45pm yesterday after breaking through a road barrier and plunging 20 feet.

Gary Monk , of Hyndburn fire station, said the driver of the white Volkswagen Golf was travelling towards Rawtenstall along Newchurch Road when he appeared to hit the bridge where the river runs underneath.

He said the driver, who appeared to be in his early twenties, was taken to Rochdale Infirmary.

He added: "The driver has gone over the pavement, over the grass bank, hit the top of the wall and turned the car over.

"It landed on its roof on the river bed.

"He is lucky the river was only shin deep although it was running fast.

The car wasn't submerged but he was trapped inside so it can't have been pleasant for him."

Firefighters used an aerial ladder platform to rescue the man who was placed on a stretcher and taken to hospital.

Firefighters from Rawtenstall, Bacup, Nelson, Burnley and Preston attended the scene.

The air ambulance was also sent but was not needed.