20 August 2012 Last updated at 13:00 ET

Tractor plunges off Cornwall cliff: Driver escapes unhurt

A man in a boat spotted the tractor upside down on the cliff and phoned 999

A tractor driver escaped injury after jumping clear moments before his tractor fell from a cliff at Crackington Haven, Cornwall.

A major rescue was sparked after the upside-down tractor was spotted by a man in a boat.

The tractor had been pulling ragwort from a field when it started rolling backwards. It went through a farm gate before falling off the cliff.

The driver, who has not been named, escaped unhurt.

Devon and Cornwall Police, Cornwall Fire and Rescue, the RNLI, three coastguard cliff rescue teams from Boscastle, Bude and Port Isaac and the Cornwall Air Ambulance were involved in the operation.

"The alarm was raised by a man on a boat who spotted the tractor more than halfway down the cliff," an Coastguard spokesperson said.

"Thankfully the driver had a lucky escape - he managed to jump clear before the tractor went over the edge."