A building worker is recovering after falling 25 feet down an unfinished lift shaft after scaffolding gave way.

The man's fall was broken after he struck more scaffolding in the 40ft shaft and then fell on to a landing, where colleagues found him.

The bottom of the partially built lift shaft on a building site at Clacton was lined with rubble. The man, who was airlifted to hospital, suffered multiple injuries and fractures. He was semi-conscious when he was discovered.

Accident scene: the building site at the corner of Vista Road and Church Road, Clacton. Picture: STEVE BRADING

The 25-year-old man was at the top of the lift shaft on the site at the corner of Vista Road and Church Road when he fell.

Clacton firemen and paramedics attended and helped to get him down.

Leading fireman Jim Bowyer, of Clacton, who attended the incident, said: "It could have been a lot worse."

The Essex Air Ambulance was alerted but initially had trouble landing due to the conditions. The man was eventually airlifted from Lancaster Gardens on the seafront and taken to Colchester General Hospital after the accident at Saturday lunchtime.

Published Monday, April 21, 2003

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