A man was airlifted to hospital yesterday afternoon after a hay bale fell from a tractor and trapped him at a Moray farm.
Emergency services were called to Marcassie Farm, Rafford, just south of Forres on the B9010, at about 3.40pm.
The man, in his thirties, was injured after the bale fell from a nearby tractor and on top of his legs — rendering him immobile.
An ambulance, an air ambulance, two appliances from Elgin Fire Station and police attended the scene and personnel worked for more than 40 minutes to free the casualty.
A total of 11 firefighters were involved in manually lifting the bale to free the man.
He was then flown to Raigmore Hospital in Inverness by helicopter to be treated for non-life-threatening injuries to his leg and back.
An ambulance service spokesman confirmed a man in his 30s was injured after the bale fell from a nearby tractor onto his legs.
A police spokeswoman said: “We received the call just after 3.50pm.
“We had reports of a male who had a bale of hay on top of him.
“The ambulance service was there and a helicopter attended, as well as two appliances from Elgin.
“They got the hay bale off the male.
“There was an injury to his leg and he complained of a sore back.”
She added that the man was airlifted to Raigmore Hospital in Inverness to be treated and the extent of his injuries — although not life-threatening — remained unclear last night.
A fire and rescue spokesman said: “Two appliances from Elgin attended Marcassie Farm on the B9010, north of Rafford.
“A total of 11 firefighters worked at the scene and they manually moved the bale off the man.
“We received a stop message at 4.20pm.”
A Marcassie Farm resident last night downplayed the incident.
He said the bail hit the man on the knees and someone else called the ambulance.