Man emptied into Perth rubbish truck

A man's screams were all that stopped him from being crushed in the back of a rubbish truck after the skip bin he was in was emptied in central Perth this morning.

A Fire and Emergency Services spokesman said the man is believed to have been searching for his laptop in an industrial garbage bin when the rubbish truck came along to empty the bin on St Georges Terrace, opposite the Perth Concert Hall, just before 4.30am.

He said the man was tipped into the back of the truck.

He believed the rubbish truck had two mechanisms, one of which lifted the bin and another that crushed the rubbish inside it.

"He's lucky he got the driver's attention before that," the spokesman said.