Cavers in eight-hour rescue drama

The cavers were trapped for eight hours

Two cavers cut off by flood water have been rescued in the Swansea Valley after an eight-hour struggle.

Laura Collins and Matt Woodfield, a volunteer with a local rescue team, were trapped when their exit route became blocked in bad weather.

Rescuers decided to swim the pair underwater through a flooded section when water levels failed to drop.

The cavers claimed later they were caught out by an "entirely wrong" weather forecast.

The West Brecon Cave Rescue team was called in by police after the couple were two hours late returning to the surface near Craig y Nos in Powys.

Ms Collins and Mr Woodfield, who is one of the team's volunteers, are both qualified to teach caving to novices, and work for the Fairbridge Trust, which works with young people aged between 13 and 25.

A specialist caver was brought in to help with the rescue

Rescuers searched Hospital Cave, at the top of the Swansea Valley, until they found the couple's route disappeared under water.

A mountain rescue team also began a search in case they had run into difficulties on the nearby hills.

Experienced cave diver Martin Farr, from Crickhowell, Powys, was brought in to swim a dangerous underwater cave section.

Brian Jopling, of the cave rescue team, said the cavers "did everything right", and blamed the weather forecast for being trapped.

"The forecast was for a fine afternoon. It could not have been more wrong," he said.

'Stranded'

"They got into the cave all right, but while they were inside there was a torrential downpour. Part of the exit route became something like the u-bend in a toilet system.

"They were stranded but there was no chance of the air running out because there is something like 800 metres of dry cave the other side of the flooded section."

It was the eighth rescue of the year for the team, which is staffed by volunteers.

A spokesman for the Fairbridge Trust said: "The cave was dry when they went in. When they appreciated the weather must have changed there was little they could do but sit and wait it out.

"Both emerged all right and did not require medical treatment," he added.