Man claims mother kept him locked up in basement since April

Detectives in Austria are investigating after a 45-year-old man claimed his mother had locked him up in a basement for months.

The man was discovered by firefighters who had been called to the house due to a "sanitary mishap", police in the capital Vienna said.

The victim, who was said to be in poor health, was taken to hospital.

On the way there he told emergency service workers that his 77-year-old mother had kept him trapped in the basement since April.

The woman is now being investigated on suspicion of false imprisonment.

In 2009, Austrian Josef Fritzl was sentenced to life imprisonment after keeping his daughter imprisoned in a basement for 24 years.