A MAN feared being buried alive when a ditch he was digging collapsed around him.

Rescuers, who were called into action from across the North West, had to dig the man out with their hands in case the rest of the trench fell in around them.

A fire engine from Nelson, two from Padiham, a rope rescue unit from St Annes, the major incident unit and a supporting pump from Preston and the aerial ladder from Burnley all attended, as well as police and ambulance.

Station manager at Nelson Fire Station, Nick Clough, said: "He was trapped from the bottom up to the waist. It was a very harrowing scene that met the crews who first arrived, he was screaming he was going to die.

"We couldn't go anywhere near him because the whole trench was in danger of collapsing.

"We spent two-and-a-half hours digging with our hands to get him out."

Fire crews were called out at 2.30pm yesterday to the scene of the drama at Foxen Dole Lane, Higham.

The man, who firefighters said was called Steve Robinson and from Colne, had been digging a 10ft drainage ditch on farmland when it collapsed and soil filled the hole around him.

He was trapped for more than three hours before rescuers could finally release him.

Mr Robinson was then taken to Preston Royal Infirmary by the North West Air Ambulance crew with a suspected fractured leg.

Station manager Clough, said crews had to use nearly every single piece of rescue equipment.

And he praised the work of the teams in getting the victim out safely.

He added: "They did an absolutely fantastic job and worked really hard under very difficult circumstances. A lot of what we did was improvised because we were in such a difficult situation."

A police spokesman said: "The rope rescue team eventually managed to drag him out and he was airlifted to hospital."