A man was lucky not to be killed when a drill fell from a cherry picker and impaled his neck.

The man, believed to be in his 20s, was replacing telegraph poles in Haddenham just after 10am today when the drill fell from the cherry picker above and entered the back of his neck.

Mick King, paramedic for the East of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust (EEAST), who attended the incident, said: “We believe the industrial drill had fallen from a cherry picker that was above the man who was on the ground working, and entered the back of his neck. It was embedded in by several inches but fortunately it just missed both his head and spine.

“We received a 999 call at 10.10am and sent an ambulance and Magpas Helimedix to the scene. After assessing the patient the critical care doctor sedated him, before he was taken to Addenbrooke’s Hospital, Cambridge, by land ambulance.

“On arrival he was believed to be in a serious but non life-threatening condition.

“Had the drill landed a slightly different place then things could have been a lot different - it’s certainly one of the more unusual incidents that I’ve attended.”