The Whyte Crane Hire vehicle was left balancing on its side with its wheels in the air and cab lifted 40ft above the ground.

No-one was believed to have been operating the crane when the incident happened near the town harbour at Dales Park at the weekend.

It is thought one of the outriggers sank into ground causing the crane to fall.

Its super lift arm hit the ground stopping the crane from completely toppling over but the shockwave which caused the extended boom to buckle.

The Liebherr LTM 1500 had been called in by subsea cable laying specialist Aquatic to load heavy equipment on to a low loader.