FIREFIGHTERS gave CPR to a man after he went into cardiac arrest while driving a van.

Crews from Colchester and Manningtree were called to a crash on Park Road in Ardleigh after reports a van had left the road and overturned in a ditch.

The incident happened at around 8.55am on Saturday morning.

When the firefighters arrived they found that the driver was unresponsive having suffered a heart attack behind the wheel.

Working with paramedics the crew members put enhanced first aid training they had recently undergone into action.

They gave the man CPR while paramedics worked on administering drugs.

Assistant Divisional Officer Mark Wilby said: "Our crews got to work on CPR which freed paramedics up to administer drugs to get his heart re-started.

"By working together they managed to bring the man back and he went from being unresponsive to having a heartbeat by the time he was put into the air ambulance.

"The paramedic told me that the crews being able to carry out CPR in the way they did freed him up to use drugs and that the combination of those two things brought this man back from the brink."

Firefighters have recently undergone enhanced training so they are better able to carry out life saving first aid when they are first at the scene and there is a medical emergency.

Colchester's crew have been among the first to receive this training.