Walker falls 100ft in Lake District
A 60-year-old man was seriously hurt when he fell 100ft (30m) while walking in the Lake District.
The man, believed to be from the Lincolnshire area, slipped on Swirral Edge, Helvellyn, on Saturday afternoon.
He was stretchered down a steep slope during the five-hour rescue before being flown to Newcastle's Royal Victoria Infirmary by an RAF Sea King helicopter.
The man's injuries were described as serious.
Members of the Patterdale Mountain Rescue team and the Great North Air Ambulance were also involved in the rescue.
Mountain rescue team leader Martin Cotterell said it was a difficult operation due to low cloud and that neither helicopter could get access to the man until he was lowered several hundred metres.
"We were most concerned about a significant head injury," he said.
"A stretcher was used to lower him down a loose rocky boulder slope before he was winched up by the Sea King."
Mr Cotterell said the man's condition had improved once he was in the helicopter.