A BINMAN fell unconscious when he was crushed by his wagon while collecting rubbish in Darlington.

The man collapsed and was taken to Darlington Memorial Hospital with head injuries following the incident last week.

It is understood he was not seriously hurt, although he is yet to return to work.

Darlington Borough Council is investigating the incident, which happened on Tuesday at Salisbury Terrace, in the Denes area of the town, to establish its cause and minimise the possibility of it happening again.

A council employee, who wished to remain anonymous, described what happened, and said the injured man had been very lucky to emerge relatively unscathed.

"The wagon was backing into a lane when it hit him with the bin lift," he said.

"It reversed into him and crushed him against the wall. He suffered head injuries and had to have five or six staples in the head, and his chest was crushed as well."

The man attributed the cause of the accident to an increase in the pressures of work, something the council has moved to deny.

"We have to cut corners a hell of a lot to save money," he said.

A council spokeswoman said: "There was an incident with one of our trade refuse collection teams in which a member of staff was momentarily unconscious.

"Following the incident he managed to climb into the vehicle unaided and was given some basic first aid to a cut on the head.

"As a precaution he was then taken to hospital where he was checked out by medical staff and discharged later in the day.

"A full investigation with the council's health and safety team is now underway.

"The incident happened on one of our trade waste routes which have remained unchanged for a number of years.

"Once the results of the investigation are known, the Council will take any appropriate action to prevent an incident such as this in the future."