DIY dangers have been highlighted after the air ambulance was called to Saxmundham to help a man who had fallen 15 feet from a ladder, injuring his back and neck.

DIY dangers have been highlighted after the air ambulance was called to Saxmundham to help a man who had fallen 15 feet from a ladder, injuring his back and neck.

The man was air-lifted from his home in Rendham Road to Ipswich Hospital. He is believed to have a broken wrist but his back injuries are not thought to be serious. A spokesman for the hospital described his condition as "comfortable".

East Anglian ambulance press officer Matthew Ware said: "We get an awful lot of call-outs to people falling off ladders. It's a very common occurrence. Certainly in the summer, we get called out several times a day to accidents of this kind."

In the last two years there have been at least two fatalities caused by falls from ladders in Suffolk.

In November 2001 81-year-old Roland Palmer, of Capel St Mary, died after falling from a ladder and, in October 2002, Frederick Ball, also 81, of Trimley St Mary, died in a similar accident.

Roger Vincent, press officer for the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA), said: "Fifty people die as a result of falling off ladders in and around the home each year.

"Another 30,000 are treated at hospitals after falling off ladders or step ladders.

"Often the problems come when people are so keen that try to overreach for things rather than getting down and moving the ladder. Others don't have the ladder at the right angle or ensure that it is stable enough on the floor.

"Sometimes people take on more than their capabilities and then start to panic when they are up the ladder."

"We would advise people to make sure they are sensible when using ladders and take all the necessary measures to ensure they are safe."