He jumped from the Bedford-based NMT Crane cab just before it landed upside down at the Fish and Duck Marina, near Ely.

The crane had been hired privately by a customer at the marina to lift two barges into the water.

Officers from East Cambridgeshire District Council, as well as the crane company, are investigating the cause.

An NMT Crane Hire spokesman told the BBC the driver was “a little shocked but otherwise fine”.

“We are very lucky and we will be carrying out an internal investigation,” he added.

Officers from the Environment Agency carried out tests to determine whether the accident had caused water pollution.

A spokesman said: “We are happy there is no real environmental damage.”

A spokesman for the marina said no vessels were damaged and it was “business as normal” for its mooring customers, although some parts of the site had been closed while the crane was recovered.