Pair run miles to save fallen man

A couple have been praised for running three miles (5km) to raise the alarm after a walker fell 100ft (30m) down a mountain side in the Yorkshire Dales.

Denise Pickard and Dave Clarke saw the man fall in the remote Swinner Gill in Swaledale on Monday.

But they had no mobile phone coverage to call for help, so they had to run to the nearest village to alert rescuers.

The 50-year-old man, from Kent, was airlifted to hospital and is said to be in a comfortable condition.

I think they've been instrumental in this guy surviving Rescue controller Dave Rutter

Swaledale Mountain Rescue said the man had fallen to the base of a gorge and had suffered multiple head and leg injuries.

He was winched out of the gorge to a waiting Great North Air Ambulance and taken to Middlesbrough's James Cook Hospital.

Ms Pickard and Mr Clarke were out walking when they saw the man stumble and fall.

The couple took a note of the grid reference and managed to alert rescuers just over an hour later, using a phone in the village of Gunnerside.

Paul Denning, from Swaledale Mountain Rescue, praised the couple for their actions.

He said: "They did a fantastic job and did what I hope any person who's out on the hills would do if they saw an accident.

"Unlike the Lake District and Snowdonia the Yorkshire Dales has very, very poor mobile phone coverage so you can't just pull out your phone and call 999.

Rescue controller Dave Rutter added: "They did such a great job. I think they've been instrumental in this guy surviving."