THE DRIVER of a road sweep vehicle became trapped after the machine toppled onto him in York.

The victim suffered arm, shoulder and leg injuries when the vehicle fell on him at about 1.45pm in James Street, off Lawrence Street, trapping his ankle between the road and the cab.

Emergency services were called to the scene, and witnesses said staff and customers from a nearby business rushed to assist.

One witness said staff from ATS garage in James Street came to the man's aid using jacks to take the weight of the vehicle off the operative's leg, while a customer reassured him.

A spokesman for the fire service said: "Fire appliances from York and Huntington attended this incident and successfully released a male in his 40s that had become trapped by his foot."

Paramedics and fire crews assisted the driver from the cab and he was helped into an ambulance before being taken to York Hospital.

City of York Council said all three of the authority's roadsweepers had been recalled while an investigation into the incident took place.