A REFUSE collector was taken to hospital with serious head injuries yesterday after a large industrial bin fell on his head during the morning collection in Highcliffe.

The 45-year-old man from Poole was taken to Poole Hospital after the bin knocked him to the floor where he is believed to have banged his head on the road.

A Dorset police spokesperson said the large wheelie bin, which had become stuck on the back of the van had landed on top of the SITA worker, after he had tried to free it yesterday morning around 8.20am.

The bin had to be lifted off the employee before he could be tended to by paramedics.

The man was reported to be in a stable condition with non life-threatening injuries at Poole hospital yesterday.

A spokesperson for SITA UK said: “One of our employees was involved in an incident while collecting commercial waste from a customer in Christchurch.

“We believe that our employee sustained a head injury and has been taken to Poole Hospital where he is being treated for his injuries.

“SITA UK takes health and safety extremely seriously and we will be conducting a full investigation into today’s incident. The incident is now also a matter of investigation by the police and the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and therefore we are unable to comment further.”

An HSE spokesperson said they were aware of the incident and were making initial enquiries.

And in Ringwood Road, north Bournemouth, near the Clock Garage, a blue X-type Jaguar saloon was in collision with a white Dennis refuse disposal vehicle around 12pm.

The driver and the sole passenger from the Jaguar, which is registered to a woman from Bournemouth, were taken to Poole Hospital with slight injuries.