Injured walker flashes torch across Lake District valley for help

The man was on steep ground with boulders and a sharp drop

An injured walker was saved after signalling for help with a torch across a Lake District valley.

A group of walkers coming down a mountain path near Taylorgill Force noticed what looked like an SOS pattern of six flashes repeated every minute.

Using the zoom on a camera they spotted a pair of legs sticking out from under a sheet of tarpaulin.

Keswick Mountain Rescue Team (MRT) said it had then been "very tricky" to reach and extricate the man.

It took volunteers nearly four hours to rescue the man

The walkers alerted people at the farm at Seathwaite who called for help.

Keswick MRT said the man had been wild camping on the fells at Great End to celebrate his birthday.

He had been trying to avoid a steep and hazardous part of the descent path near Taylorgill Force when he fell, breaking his leg.

"Well off the beaten track the well-equipped man fortunately had a torch with which he could signal but it was quite some time before he was noticed," the MRT said.

The walker was brought down to an ambulance waiting at Seathwaite

Bringing him down from the mountain was difficult as the ground was steep, with boulders and a fence and wall above a vertical drop, a spokesperson added.

The MRT was called out at about 19:00 BST on Thursday and it took 26 volunteers nearly five hours to get the man to safety, they added.