22 people help climber hurt in beauty spot fall

A CLIMBER who fell five metres from crags at Simonside was helped in a complex rescue operation involving two mountain rescue teams, an air ambulance helicopter and the road ambulance service.

- SAM VOLPE Health Reporter [e-mail]

The operation on Sunday afternoon involved a total of 22 people and took more than three hours.

Fortunately the climber's condition was stable, so they were able to be lowered to safety downhill via the nearby forest track.

The Northumberland National Park Mountain Rescue team shared details about the incident, which began at 3.37pm on Sunday.

The team said: "On Sunday, ourselves and North of Tyne Mountain Rescue Team were deployed to assist the North East Ambulance Service (NEAS) NHS Foundation Trust with a climber who had fallen approximately five metres from the crags at Simonside, sustaining potentially serious injuries.

"With no other emergency services on scene at the time of the call, our vehicles, Echo and Foxtrot, were immediately dispatched on blue lights, and the teams were mobilised.