A BUILDER is lucky to be alive after falling 10ft through a roof while he was at work.

The man, thought to be in his 50s, was working on the new Marlborough Park development on Pipers Way, Old Town.

He was on top of one of the roofs at the development at around 11.30am on Wednesday when he suddenly fell through and landed on the third floor of the property.

The Ambulance service and fire service were called to the incident straight away and, because of the location of the victim, the fire service needed to use an aerial appliance to reach him.

The man had hit his head during the fall and when the paramedics reached him he was also complaining of injuries to his spine and a lack of feeling in his lower body.

He was taken by ambulance to the Great Western Hospital where he remains with his family by his side.

A spokesman on behalf of Wates Living Space, the construction company for the Marlborough Park development, said: “Unfortunately we can confirm there has been an incident on a site in Swindon.

“We have nothing further to say at this time but we are doing all we can to assist the Health & Safety Executive with their inquiries.

“Our focus is currently on the injured person in hospital and his family."

A fire crew from Swindon’s Drove Road station attended the incident with an aerial appliance which ended up playing a vital role in getting to the victim and ensuring he was returned to the ground safely before being taken to hospital.

A spokesman for the Great Western Ambulance Service (GWAS) said: “Our immediate concern when we arrived there was getting him down safely and we train with the fire service for situations like this.

“When we reached him he had injuries to his head with a suspected fractured skull and he was saying about a lack of feeling in his lower body.

“The main problem with an injury at a work site is access to the victim and getting them safely out, but with the aerial appliance there it is a big help to ensure there is no further injury caused.”