A MAN is still fighting for his life after falling 50ft down a lift shaft.

The 34-year-old, of Swindon, who is believed to work in construction, suffered a fractured skull and broken ankle and ribs after the fall at a shopping centre in Northamptonshire.

The man, who works at Swindon-based sub contractor Superior Access Solutions Ltd, based in Rodbourne Road, is still in a critical condition after the incident at 2.45pm on Sunday at the Newlands Shopping Centre, in Kettering.

Emergency services attended the scene and he was airlifted to the Walsgrave Hospital, in Coventry, at about 4pm. Three teams of firefighters helped to free the man from the basement of the shaft.

Emergency services then hauled the man on to a stretcher using ropes and he was stabilised before he was sent to hospital.

The centre was closed while he was treated.

Two air ambulances were called to the scene and police closed a road in the town centre following the incident.

Health and safety officers at Kettering Council are investigating the circumstances surrounding the fall.

The centre was fully open again yesterday.