Helicopter rescue for tractor driver

A MAN has been airlifted to hospital by helicopter after he was trapped under a tractor.

Emergency services were called to the scene on farmland near Straiton in Ayrshire just before 9am on Thursday.

Fire crews released the man from beneath the vehicle.

A Royal Navy helicopter from HMS Gannet at Prestwick, Ayrshire, arrived at 9:23am. Two crew members were winched down to help and the aircraft then landed nearby.

Petty Officer Taff Ashman, HMS Gannet’s duty paramedic, said: “It looked like the tractor had slipped on mud and then capsized – it all looked quite nasty. It was vital to get him to specialist care as quickly as possible and the helicopter was by far the most rapid way to achieve that.”