A MAN lost both his feet after he became trapped under a train in sidings near Harlow Station.

The middle-aged man was helping manoeuvre a nine-carriage train carrying aggregate when the accident happened early this morning, an Essex Fire and Rescue Service spokesman said.

Three fire crews worked alongside paramedics to free the man from under the train.

An Essex Fire and Rescue Service spokesman said firefighters recovered his missing limbs in the hope that surgeons will be able to save them.

The man was treated at the scene and taken to Princess Alexandra Hospital, Harlow, where medical teams were on standby.

Divisional officer Mark Samuels, the firefighter officer in charge at the incident, said: "It appears the man slipped underneath the carriage as he was seeing back the train. His limbs were severed but the cut was clean so the legs were taken with the casualty to hospital in the hope that medical teams may be able to sew them back on."

A British Transport Police and Health and Safety Executive investigation is under way to establish the cause of the accident.