Van plunge rescue mission

EMERGENCY services carried out a three-hour rescue mission after a van driver plunged down a ravine into a riverbed on Saturday night.

The van veered off Cutler Hill Road in Failsworth and became trapped in the marsh area around Crime Lake, close to Daisy Nook Country Park.

Crews from Manchester Central and Chadderton rushed to the scene at around 9.15pm where they found the man still trapped in his van.

An inflatable path was used to rescue the driver — who was conscious throughout — and the front of the vehicle had to be cut out, with the use of thermal imagiing and the help of a police helicopter lighting up the area.

The driver was taken to hospital with pelvic and leg injuries.