A dock worker remains in hospital in London after being seriously injured when he became trapped under a one ton bag of potatoes in the hold of a ship.

Roger Parsons, 65, from Sheerness, was helping to unload the vessel – the Amer Choapa – when the accident happened at 9am last Wednesday at Sheerness Docks off Bridge Road.

He was taken by the Kent Air Ambulance to King’s College Hospital, London, with pelvic and leg injuries. His leg was still in traction on Tuesday.

Firefighter Dave Hewitt from Sheppey fire station, said: “The bag had been split when we arrived in order to remove some of the potatoes. He was put in a stretcher and lifted from the hold by a dockside crane to the waiting air ambulance.”

Mr Parsons worked for dockyard based contractor SKS Consultancy Ltd but the firm did not wish to comment.

The Health and Safety Executive is investigating.