A Batheaston street was brought to a standstill this morning as emergency services rushed to help a man who had apparently dug a deep hole for himself in his garden, climbed in and refused to get out.

Residents on Catherine Way woke up to the sight of specialist fire and rescue teams erecting a winch to try and rescue the man, who a neighbour said had been digging the hole for weeks.

Dominic Denny, who lives on the same street in Batheaston, woke up to the incredible scenes this morning.

Mr Denny said: “There was a lot of fire department and rescue teams up there.

“It started at about 4am this morning when there was a lot of shouting and screaming coming from the house opposite me. The young man’s family was outside trying to get him back in the house.

“It seemed to quieten down but when I woke up at about 7am the whole street was absolutely packed full of emergency vehicles and special support teams.

“He had been digging a very deep hole in his garden for weeks and had gotten into it and they couldn’t get him out.

“They called the specialist in and they put together a kind of crane over the hole and then tried to go down and get him.

“I’d say there were probably 10 different emergency service team members up there.

“The whole of the estate was closed off. I had to ask to be able to leave to get to my surgery on time. They were letting people out but you couldn’t get back into the street.”

A spokesperson for Avon and Somerset police said: “We responded to the incident this morning in a support capacity.

“We had to close the road because there were so many service vehicles in response, which was disruptive because it was on a bus route.

“The incident was resolved and the man got out of the hole of his own accord.”

The Bath Chronicle is awaiting a response from Avon Fire and Rescue Service.

The Bath Chronicle has launched a WhatsApp group to help you keep up to date with the latest news. If you'd like to receive breaking news alerts, save the number 07939 497390 to your phone - we recommend saving the contact as 'Bath Chronicle News' - then send the word NEWS to us via WhatsApp. We will send you a maximum of four messages a day and your phone number won't be shared with other members of the group or used for any other purpose.