A 56-year-old man was airlifted to hospital after a metal spike was impaled into his back.

Firefighters were also called to the scene of the incident opposite Knauf, near Ridham Dock on the Swale, at around 3.50pm on Monday.

The 56-year-old was with two other contractors using industrial strimmers to trim back hedges and undergrowth at a dyke when the strimmer caught the piece of metal which flew up into his back.

A crew from Sittingbourne Fire and Rescue attended the scene to help get the man to the waiting Kent Air Ambulance, which took him to the Royal London Hospital.

Sittingbourne crew manager Adrian Boorman said: “We don’t know how long the rod was but it was well in his back, it was about 8mm thick. There must have been about 8 inches sticking out.

“He was walking around when we got there and we put him face down on a long board and using ladders and man power were able to transfer him to the waiting air ambulance. He was given morphine at the scene and was responsive when he went to hospital.”