PARAMEDICS were called to a packaging firm in Nelson after a worker became trapped by the foot in a conveyor belt.

He was working alongside the belt at Strategy on Lomeshaye Industrial Estate when the accident happened yesterday tea-time.

The conveyor carries waste paper out of the building to a waiting skip.

Nearby staff immediately pressed the belt's emergency stop button and an ambulance was called.

The Health and Safety Executive, which coincidentally visited the factory for a routine check last week, has been informed.

Strategy's managing director Tony Dervan said: "We have launched a full and thorough investigation of our own into this matter. We're treating it very seriously and we will be looking at our working practices again. The conveyor belt itself is not inherently dangerous.

"How it has happened and what we can do to prevent it happening again is our main concern."

The temporary labourer, who was employed by an agency in Blackpool, is believed to have suffered broken bones in his foot.

A spokesman for the Crest employment agency declined to give details about the injured man, who is believed to come from the Blackpool area. "All our information about clients is confidential," she said.

Strategy employs around 600 people in a number of factories on the industrial estate. It packages items for a number of major national firms but the work is labour-intensive and there is no heavy machinery in the plants.

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