Cool David Worthington rang his wife on a mobile phone to tell her he'd had 'a bit of an accident' as he lay trapped under a 45-ton upturned crane.

The courageous crane driver also joked with rescuers who battled for three and a half hours to free him.

The drama began yesterday when Mr Worthington's crane toppled over in a field a mile away from the nearest road.

Rescuers faced huge problems transporting the heavy-duty equipment they needed to reach the accident scene.

Mr Worthington, 58, of North Parade, Skipton, was flown by police helicopter to hospital after his three-and-an-half hour rescue ordeal.

He suffered severe leg injuries and was today described as stable. His wife is understood to be at his bedside. The couple have one son.

Inspector Chris Gradwell said: "Mr Worthington was operating the crane removing 20 foot long steel piles from a Transco gas pipeline. It would appear the crane overbalanced - we don't know why - and overturned on its side, snapping overhead power cables with its jib.

"Mr Worthington was trapped by his legs in the cab."

The alarm was raised and the rescue effort, at Eccleston, near Chorley in Lancashire, declared a major incident.

"There was a delicate and lengthy rescue operation involving cutting away parts of the crane cab - during the three and a half hour ordeal, Mr Worthington remained conscious and exchanged jokes and conversation with medical staff and fire officers," Inspector Gradwell said.

"I said to him 'you can't park here you know' which raised a laugh - he's a brave man. He actually spoke to his wife on a mobile phone from his very precarious position, and told her he had had a bit of an accident."

Divisional Officer Peter Halleron said: "Forty five tonnes is a great deal of weight and the other problem was the remoteness of the spot. We had to take our specialised equipment to the scene in an all-terrain vehicle."

Today health and safety officials were carrying out an investigation into the accident.

Mr Worthington is understood to work for a firm called Sheet Piling UK, a contractor working alongside the construction company McAlpine which is in charge of a major pipe-laying operation.

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