Woman dies in fall from mountain

The family fell from Sharp Edge, a ridge on Blencathra

A woman has died and her husband and six-year-old daughter have been seriously injured in a 200ft fall from a mountain ridge in the Lake District.

The family, from Peterborough, were walking on the Sharp Edge ridge on Blencathra, near Keswick in Cumbria.

The man and girl were taken to hospital in Carlisle in one of two RAF Sea King rescue helicopters sent to the scene.

The 38-year-old woman's body was taken by the second helicopter to the same hospital where she was pronounced dead.

Her 48-year-old husband and their daughter are being treated at Cumberland Infirmary, where their condition is described as serious but not life-threatening, but no further details of their injuries have been released.

'Wet and slippy'

Two other people, who had raised the alarm at about 1430 BST, were left stranded on a crag, and have since been helped off the mountain.

A Cumbria Police spokesman said they were unhurt but traumatised.

Members of the RAF Leuchars mountain rescue team, which was on exercise nearby, were involved in the operation alongside civilian volunteers from the Keswick team.

The helicopters were from RAF Boulmer in Northumberland and RAF Valley on Anglesey.

A Ministry of Defence spokesman said: "It was wet and slippy.

"They were just below the cloud line, around 2,000 feet up the mountain. It is quite steep there.

"Two other adults were taken down the mountain by Keswick Mountain Rescue team."