Police have released details of the man seriously injured when a digger ended up on its roof in a South Devon field.

Firefighters spent two hours cutting open an overturned digger to free a man trapped inside the machine in Devon lats on Monday night.

The man has been flown to hospital by air ambulance after being extricated from the upside down 12-tonne digger in East Prawle, near Salcombe.

a police spokesman said: "Police, fire and ambulance were called at 8.35pm on Monday [12 August] after a man became trapped within a JCB digger which had overturned on land at East Prawle, Kingsbridge.

"The man, in his 70s and from the Kingsbridge area, was freed from the digger by the fire service and ambulance.

"He sustained potentially life-changing injuries and was airlifted to hospital by the air ambulance.

"The Health and Safety Executive has been informed.


Crews from Salcombe and Dartmouth were called, together with the heavy rescue vehicle from Middlemoor at 8.34pm.

Police requested assistance to a digger that had overturned in a field, trapping the driver.

After liaising with on-scene paramedics to formulate an extrication plan, firefighters set to work stabilising the vehicle, before removing the windscreen of the 12-tonne digger with a reciprocating saw and small tools, to access the casualty.


By 10.13pm they had freed the man and handed him to paramedics. He was conveyed to hospital via air ambulance.

Crews made both the vehicle and scene safe before confirming at 11.05pms that the incident was under control.