A man has lost his foot after his leg became stuck in a machine used to de-seed pumpkins.

The 28-year-old was airlifted to hospital after the incident in Binderton, near Chichester, West Sussex, but was not thought to have suffered life-threatening injuries.

Friend Simon Sprackling said: "He is alive, but he's lost his foot."

Mr Sprackling said he had been trained how to use the machine but believed he had gone behind it and slipped.

A West Sussex Fire and Rescue Service spokeswoman said firefighters used a variety of small tools to dismantle the machine while the man was tended to by medics.

A specialist technical rescue unit was sent to the incident just before 11am yesterday and spent nearly two hours extricating the man.

The spokeswoman added: "The machine is thought to be the only one of its kind in the country.

"It was certainly a very unusual call-out."