Vic woman 'lifts bus' off husband

She'd never operated a forklift before but the Victorian woman proved a quick learner when she used one to rescue her husband from under a bus.

The Gisborne man was working on the bus when it collapsed on top of him on Thursday.

Senior Constable Brent Yearwood said the man managed to grab his mobile phone and call his wife.

"The bloke called his wife, his wife came and got a forklift and lifted the bus up off him," Sen Const Yearwood told AAP.

The woman, who had never driven a forklift before, managed to manoeuvre it under the bus and lift it off her husband.

When police arrived the man was lying next to the vehicle with a gash to his arm and head.

Paramedics worked on the man and he was airlifted to The Alfred hospital in a serious but stable condition, Ambulance Victoria said.