A gamekeeper who was crushed by a two-tonne tree was forced to cut himself free using a chainsaw after no one heard his cries for help.

Kieron Robbins, 34, was in the middle of woodland in Abberley, Worcestershire when the 90ft-tall ash, which he had been cutting down, fell on his legs.

Drifting in and out of consciousness, Mr Robbins hacked himself free with his chainsaw because his phone was stuck in his pocket under the tree.

The part-time gamekeeper and gardener spent several minutes slicing through the chunk with the chainsaw to relieve the pressure on his limbs before managing to crawl to safety and phone for help at 10.30am on 8 August.

His friends raised the alarm and Mr Robbins was taken to Worcestershire Royal Hospital where he was found to have broken his ankle in two places.

Mr Robbins said: "The tree flew back like a boomerang. It hit me in the chest.

"If that tree came up another half a foot it would have killed me.

"I was cutting through the tree, cutting through it and cutting through it, and the next thing I knew it hit me in the chest and I flew six foot backwards.

"I was screaming for help in the middle of the wood but no one knew I was there.

"All of the tree's weight was on my left leg.

"If that chainsaw wasn't there, I wouldn't be here. Luckily enough the saw was to hand. I'm a very lucky boy.

"Instinct kicked in and I got the saw. I started the saw as close as I could to the leg to take the pressure off. It got stuck a couple of times but brute force kicked in.

"I have been using chainsaws since I was 18 so that part of it was fine - it was just a normal cross-cut but I was in a lot of pain and shock.

"I had my two springer spaniels, Teal and Snipe, with me... the one dog to my right shoulder was pawing me every two seconds, saying, you know, 'come on boss get up'."

A West Midlands Ambulance Service spokeswoman said: "When ambulance staff arrived, they were greeted by friends of the man at a rendezvous point on Stud Lane who used their own 4x4 vehicle to take the team into the woods.

"The man was approximately a mile away from the property which was treacherous underfoot and inaccessible by ambulance.

"Once with the patient, ambulance staff found a man who had been pinned underneath a tree by his legs."

Mr Robbins added that due to the torn ligaments, doctors predict his ankle will not have fully healed by Christmas.