Woman rescued from chalk pit

Woman rescued from chalk pit

Police search specialists rescued a woman from a chalk pit in the middle of the night after she was reported missing.

The 42-year-old woman, from Worthing in West Sussex, was suffering from the early symptoms of hypothermia when she was found.

She had been reported missing on Friday night and was described as being depressed and known to have taken some tablets.

Police said the effects of the cold or the drugs could have killed her if she had been in the pit much longer.

Spoke to husband

Local officers from Sussex Police, the force helicopter, a search advisor and specialist firearms officers were all involved in the operation.

The woman, who has not been named, had spoken to her husband using her mobile phone and told him she had climbed down into a chalk pit.

But she told him she did not know where it was and could not find her way out of it.

Police had narrowed the search down to the Durrington and Salvington areas of Worthing by 0200 BST on Saturday.

But police said the danger posed by the chalk pits meant the area could not safely be searched in the darkness by officers on foot, so an armed response vehicle, with strong night vision equipment, was sent out.

'Saved her life'

Officers from the Tactical Firearms Unit (TFU) went to the edge of the pit area and located the woman using their powerful search lamps.

She was eventually rescued from the pit at 0245 BST and taken to hospital.

Superintendent Steve O'Rourke, who led the operation, said: "The TFU officers' prompt actions and flexible use of specialist skills and equipment undoubtedly saved the missing woman's life.

"Had she not been found promptly, then either the effects of cold or the drugs she'd taken - or both - would likely have caused her death."