Man suffers spinal injuries in bridge collapse

Fire crews rescued a man who fell through a bridge in Burwash Weald on Tuesday evening.

The man was taking a walk on the site, just off Heathfield Road, at around 6.30pm when the wooden bridge collapsed and he fell six foot into a ditch, hurting his back.

Fire crews from Burwash and Battle were called to the scene and managed to get the stricken man onto a spinal board before transporting him over uneven terrain in a 4X4 to a waiting ambulance.

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The Sussex Air Ambulance was called to the scene but was unable to land near the scene of the accident.

Crew commander Leo Cacciatore, of Battle Fire Station, said: "We had to work with the ambulance crews to remove him on a board and take him up through the fields in a fire service vehicle to an ambulance."

The unnamed man was taken to the Conquest Hospital in Hastings with suspected spinal injuries.

South East Coast Ambulance Service said the man's injuries were not believed to be serious.