Man safe after ten hour cave ordeal

Firefighters worked on after their strike started

A potholer trapped deep underground for ten hours has been saved by members of his own cave rescue group.

Vernon Freeman, 40, from Somerset, suffered internal and back injuries and bruising as a result of his ordeal.

He got into difficulties at 1030 GMT on Wednesday after falling down a sheer 35 foot drop in a cave below the Mendips.

A team of 35 people - including firefighters who continued working during their strike - helped the stricken caver to the surface just after 2000 GMT.

Summoned help

He was taken to the Royal United Hospital in Bath.

Mr Freeman, an experienced caver, was around two hours into the St Cuthbert's Swallet cave near the village of Priddy when he fell.

One of his friends returned to the surface to summon help.

The Avon and Somerset Cliff Rescue Team (ASCRT) and the Mendip Rescue Organisation - of which Mr Freeman himself is a member - both joined the search.

A man was trapped in this mineshaft for 11 days

ASCRT chairman Duncan Massey said: "It is a long cave with a series of sheer drops - one of which Mr Freeman had fallen down.

"He was about two hours in when the accident happened, so it took a while to get help to him.

"We were hoping he would recover and meet us part way, but he was unable to move and in the end had to be brought out on a stretcher.

"We sent a doctor in to help him, and made sure he was kept warm to prevent hypothermia, but I believe he had suffered a broken vertebrae."

Paramedics, police and firefighters - who worked beyond the 1800 GMT start of their strike - helped with the rescue.

Last year a man was rescued after spending 11 days trapped down a disused mineshaft in Somerset.