Trespasser helped out of tight spot (From The Wiltshire Gazette and Herald)

Trespasser helped out of tight spot

Easy Does it Fire crews lift the injured man from the boarded up buildingPOLICE had to break in to an abandoned house to rescue a man who had fallen through the ceiling.

Officers had to force their way into the building on Bath Road so that the injured man could be treated by paramedics.

Firefighters then had to winch him out of the upstairs bathroom window on a stretcher so he could be taken to the Great Western Hospital.

The emergency services were called to the boarded up property, by the roundabout with Kingshill and Okus Road at 8.50am on Saturday after the man dialled 999 on his mobile.

The four houses, which used to provide nursing accommodation for staff at Princess Margaret's Hospital, have been repossessed and currently stand empty. They have been boarded up since Friday, June 18.

Inspector Keith Ewart, of Swindon Police, was not able to identify the man but said: "A male had fallen from the roof into the upper floor.

"The ground floor was boarded up so we forced entry to let the ambulance crew in.

"The man said he had jumped from the loft and had fallen through the ceiling."

Neighbours say they are fed up because the buildings have been broken into a number of times.

One woman, who did not want to be named, said: "There were more than 30 kids hanging around in there the other week then the police came and it all got boarded up.

"The next day we saw one of the windows was open so I called the police and now this has happened."