Student's 'cliffhanger' ordeal

Jenny Laing: 'Very embarrassed'

An afternoon stroll turned into a nightmare for an Aberystwyth student who got stuck while climbing a 200 foot cliff.

Two lifeboats, an RAF Sea King helicopter and a cliff rescue team were called out to rescue 21-year-old Jenny Laing, who had to hang onto the cliff face for more than an hour before rescuers reached her.

Ms Laing described how she was terror-stricken because as the minutes ticked by she was slowly losing her foothold on the cliff and feared she would fall to her death.

Problems for the furniture design student started when she decided to climb the cliff after going for a walk with a friend on Sunday.

I am very embarrassed about causing so much trouble because it was my own stupid fault and I could have died

Jenny Laing

"A friend of mine had climbed the cliff a few weeks ago so I decided I could do it as well, " said Ms Laing, who had no climbing equipment.

"It was easy to climb at the beginning but as I got closer to the top the footholds and handholds started to get smaller and smaller."

Danger

Ms Laing had struggled to within 10 yards of the top of Constitution Hill in the town when she realised there were no more footholds and she was stuck.

"All I could do was hold keep my left foot onto the last foothold and press myself against the cliff face," she said.

Another walker noticed Ms Laing was in danger and immediately phoned the emergency services.

This led to Aberystwyth and Borth lifeboats, an RAF helicopter and a cliff rescue team being scrambled to save Ms Laing, who is from Ashtead in Surrey.

The student was winched to safety from Constitution Hill

"There was a nice policeman on top of the cliff talking to me the whole time and telling me to relax," said Ms Laing.

"But I couldn't relax because if I'd done that I would have fallen to my death."

Eventually, a member of the cliff rescue team was winched down the rock face to harness Ms Laing and winch her up to the top.

"I am very embarrassed about causing so much trouble because it was my own stupid fault and I could have died," said Ms Laing, who apart from a few scratches, was unhurt after her ordeal.

An Aberystwyth coastguard spokesman said that the rock face at Constitution Hill was very dangerous because it crumbled easily.

"It looks easy enough to climb but and people can get half way up but then they realise they can't go any further and can't get down again," he said.

The spokesman also warned people to be careful of setting out on walks along the beach because they could be stranded by incoming tides.

He advised the public to phone and get the tidal times before beginning their walks.