Man crushed between recycling lorries in Bolton

The man, an employee of waste management firm Viridor, was delivering recovered paper to the Severnside Recycling Centre on Turton Street when he is said to have been hit by a Bolton council vehicle.

An ambulance was called to the site and the man was taken to the Royal Bolton Hospital for treatment. He is now being treated in Manchester Royal Infirmary Hospital for “serious but non-critical injuries”.

Viridor currently delivers paper and card collected from homes in Bolton to the Severnside site for baling before it is sent for reprocessing. This service is provided under Viridor-Laing's PFI contract with the Greater Manchester Waste Disposal Authority.

A spokeswoman for Viridor said: “Viridor confirms that an incident took place at approximately 11.00 on Friday 26th February 2010, involving one of its employees and a Bolton council vehicle at a third-party recycling depot in Bolton. The Viridor employee was discharging a trailer load of paper for recycling when he was hit by the other vehicle.

“A full investigation is underway between all parties and the HSE has been informed. Further details will be made available in due course.”

A spokeswoman for the North West Ambulance Service, which attended the scene, said: “We were called at 10.20 that morning to attend to a 61 year-old gentleman who appeared to be crushed between two refuse lorries. He was conscious and bleeding but did have some chest injuries.”

A Bolton council spokesman added: “An incident occurred on Friday at a recycling plant involving a Bolton council refuse driver and a Viridor PLC employee. The injured man was taken to the Royal Bolton Hospital and investigations are being carried out by health and safety officers from the council and Viridor.”

A spokesman from the Health and Safety Executive confirmed that it had been informed and was making inquiries.

Severnside was unavailable to comment.