Rescuers save man after call from cliff

Coastguard: Call 'may have very well saved his life'

A man was rescued after he used his mobile phone to call for help after falling from a cliff in Mundesley, Norfolk.

The 23-year-old man dialled 999 just after 1700 GMT on Wednesday to tell rescuers he had slipped while walking down the cliff and had injured his legs.

The Coastguard scrambled cliff teams from Mundesley, Cromer and Sheringham, an ambulance and rescue helicopter.

Ray Hart, the Watch Manager at Yarmouth Coastguard, said: "His telephone call to us may very well have saved his life."

'Difficult' conditions

Before the signal was lost, the caller said he had left his car in a car park at the cliffs and that as he lived alone he was concerned that no one would report him missing for some time.

Rescuers found the man 50 metres down the side of the cliff and suffering from hypothermia.

Mr Hart described the rescue operation as "very difficult" because the man was nearer the bottom of the cliff than the top and conditions were windy with snow showers.

The man was winched into a helicopter before being flown to the James Paget Hospital.

His name has not been released.