FIREFIGHTERS have praised two fishermen who came to the aid of a fellow angler who fell 40 feet from a jetty at a derelict industrial site.

Around 40 emergency service personnel were drafted in to rescue the fisherman who had fallen into the centre of an old pumping station at the former site of Steetley Magnesite at the Old Cemetery Road at Hartlepool headland.

The unnamed man, who was aged between 40 and 60, was fishing from the pumping station which is at the end of a 400 metre jetty at the former magnesium works.

He fell down a manhole in the centre of the structure hitting a steel girder on the way down and landed in water at the bottom.

Two other fishermen climbed down the structure and hauled the stricken man from the icy water, potentially saving his life.

Watch manager Gerard Suggitt, from Stranton fire station, said: "I don't know how they did it.

"The girder was about eight feet above the water.

"Those two fishermen and the initial paramedic did very, very well."

Firefighters were called to the scene at around 7.30pm on Wednesday evening.

In a two and a half hour operation, 40 rescue workers helped get the man out of the pumping station.

These included fire service personnel from Stranton, Hartlepool headland and Coulby Newham, as well as paramedics, police, the coastguard and the air ambulance.

He was lifted from the manhole on a spine board by a fire service line rescue team.

The man, who remained conscious throughout the operation, was eventually airlifted to James Cook hospital by an RAF Sea King helicopter from Kinloss.

He was suffering from suspected spinal and pelvic injuries.

Mr Suggitt added: "I would like to praise everybody involved, as well as the fire service personnel, there was the, ambulance personnel, the police, the coastguard, the RAF and the helicopter.

"It was a very difficult operation as it was such a dangerous site to get to.

"However, the skills and professionalism shone through and all ended well."