A workman was winched 16ft to safety by a crane after falling down a muddy trench.

The contractor was already part-way down the narrow ditch when he fell further and injured his back.

The man, believed to be in his 20s, slipped while working on a gas pipe installation at Shornemead Fort.

Concerned colleagues called the emergency services to the site, off Queens Farm Road, Shorne, at around 9.30am on Monday after it became clear he may have sustained a spinal injury.

Kent Air Ambulance was called to the scene but the rescue was completed by South East Coast Ambulance Service and Kent Fire and Rescue Service.

After being secured on a spinal board, two crews from Thames-side’s blue watch used a stretcher and on-site crane to the lift the patient safely out of the hole.

Crew manager Lee Murray said: “We were up to our waists in mud. He was very lucky he didn’t fall further otherwise it could have been more serious.”

The man was taken to Medway Hospital by road ambulance.

A spokesman for National Grid, which is overseeing the works along with Amec, revealed he was discharged later that day.

The spokesman said: “He was standing on the pipe, which is about 36in in diameter, when he slipped backwards.

“The pipe is near the bottom of the excavation so he didn’t fall from any height. He had to be stretchered out.”