EMERGENCY services crews rushed to the scene of an accident 10km east of Bendemeer towards Walcha yesterday morning when reports a truck carrying fertiliser had rolled on the Oxley Highway and was leaking diesel.

Rural Fire Service crews from Bendemeer and Woolbrook, police, paramedics, NSW Fire Brigade officers and a Hazmat crew all attended the scene of the accident which resulted in the closure of one lane of Walcha Rd about 11am.

The driver of the truck, a 40-year-old man, was trapped in the vehicle for some time before being freed from the vehicle and eventually airlifted to Tamworth Hospital by the Westpac Rescue Helicopter suffering head injuries. He was reported to be in a serious but stable condition.

“Normally if you have fertiliser and diesel there are situations where the two can cause a ‘boom’ but luckily the fertiliser the truck was carrying turned out to be chicken manure,” operations

manager for Tamworth Rural Fire Service Geordie Akeroyd said.

A witness at the scene said it appeared the driver may have lost control on one of the bends in the road.

“It appeared that he had hit an embankment and then rolled the truck,” she said.

Emergency crews were forced to use the “jaws of life” to free the man from the truck.

Traffic was allowed to pass the accident one vehicle at a time after being directed by police officers past the wreckage.