A MAN is recovering in hospital this morning after he lost part of his finger in an industrial accident.

Craig Robinson

A MAN is recovering in hospital this morning after he lost part of his finger in an industrial accident.

Paul Berry suffered severe blood loss after the incident, which happened at around 8.40am yesterday at Parham Airfield.

It is believed the 53-year-old, from Framlingham, got his fingers caught in a piece of machinery he was using to cut firewood.

He was taken by air ambulance to the Norfolk and Norwich Hospital and it is understood he had an operation yesterday afternoon.

Last night his brother, Peter, who was at the airfield at the time of the accident but did not witness the incident, said he appeared to be doing well.

“He seems to be in high spirits and doctors say he will make a good recovery,” he said. “I didn't actually see the accident. I heard him shouting and then went over to help. He was over the far side of the yard.

“The emergency services were there within 10 minutes. It appears that he has lost half of one of his fingers on one hand.

“The other hand is quite badly crushed and the fingers are broken. Unfortunately I can't say which hand it was because it was very difficult to tell at the time.”

Peter, of Friston, who runs tree specialists W J Berry and Sons, which is based at Parham Airfield, said he rents his brother a plot of land to use for his own firewood business, P & R Berry.

“He takes the off cuts from my business and turns them into firewood,” the 45-year-old said. “At the time of the accident he was sawing, using a machine called a firewood processor - which has a large blade that cuts the wood and then takes it away on a conveyor belt.

“He's very experienced and has done it since he left school. My business has been going for more than 30 years and he's been doing it longer than that.”