A kayaker’s leg was amputated during a dramatic, hours-long rescue operation to free him from between rocks on a river in Australia on Saturday, local police said.

The man, in his 60s, got his leg wedged between rocks while pack rafting with a group of friends thought the rapids in Tasmania's Franklin River at 2:30pm on Friday.

A man in his 60s has had his leg amputated by a rescue medical team after it became wedged between rocks in the Franklin River. Police said the rescue operation was "complex and protracted".