Ken Smail, 33, of Balmoral Crescent, Houghton, is stable in Sunderland Royal Hospital after being pinned by the forklift after it plunged from a 5ft platform.

It took 25 firefighters to free him using specialist equipment in a 45-minute operation.

The accident happened at about 5am at LRH Distribution and Storage, Philadelphia.

Mr Smail is thought to have reversed off a raised area where the machines are loaded and become trapped by the legs underneath the forklift.

His feet and pelvic bone are also thought to have been severely injured.

Paramedics were the first on the scene and managed to stabilise him before firefighters arrived.

Ten and 20 tonne airbags were used to raise the three-tonne forklift from Mr Smail, who remained conscious and coherent throughout.

Sub-officer Stephen Baird, of Rainton Bridge fire station, said: "The complexity of the incident meant everybody had to work in sequence with each other.

"Credit must go to the firefighters, paramedics and hospital team."

Six appliances from as far afield as Hebburn, which has a crane on the back of its salvage unit, were called in to aid the rescue attempt.