A waste collection worker was put into an induced coma after being hit by a passing van while collecting rubbish.

The man was carrying out his normal duties in Horsham when a passing van reportedly crashed into him.

He had returned a recycling bin to the front of a property and was walking along the road behind the stationary truck when he was struck by the van “with force”, sending him flying onto a nearby grass verge.

The man was seriously injured and airlifted from the scene to St George’s Hospital in Tooting, London.

He was found to have a fractured skull, broken ribs and a bleed on the chest and was put into an induced coma.

Horsham District Council reported his condition was “touch and go”, although he is now making “slow but steady progress” and has been moved to a more local hospital.

A spokeswoman for the council said: “This has been a seven-week recovery and recuperation process which has been extremely stressful for the family and friends affected.”

The van also hit a second worker at the back of the truck taking a bin off the lifter, who was squashed between the two vehicles.

He was also taken to hospital with ribs, stomach and spleen bruising injuries and was discharged to recover at home.

The man is still off work, as well as the driver of the vehicle who is suffering from mental health issues as a result of the incident.

The crash took place in May, although the council has since reported a number of other incidents which have put refuse collectors at risk.

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In Warnham, Horsham, a vehicle mounted the pavement to get around a parked waste collection vehicle and hit a worker, although they were not injured.

On another occasion near Cowfold, a vehicle hit the back of a rubbish truck as it stopped to make collections.

The spokeswoman for the council added: “Our ongoing thoughts are very much with our injured crew members and their families at such difficult times as they continue to recover from these horrendous accidents, which have occurred as they have been carrying out their essential jobs to support our communities.

“There have been three serious incidents in three weeks on local Horsham district roads resulting in serious life changing injuries for one crew member and considerable injury and stress to others, which is not acceptable.

“Most recently, there was an incident on November 12 where a van driver didn’t slow down when passing the waste collection vehicle and caught our loader with a wing mirror.

“As weather conditions prove more challenging over the winter months, as a council we now issue a plea to all drivers to be more vigilant when they see waste collection trucks going about their rounds.

“They will be stopping to do their collections, often on busy roads and crew members will be walking around the vehicles in their high visibility uniforms to perform their duties.

“If you see our vehicles doing their rounds, be patient and allow for our crew members to empty bins and move out of the way before you drive forward or overtake.”