A CUMBRIAN mountain rescue team has attended what is believed to be the first callout of 2014.

Kirkby Stephen volunteer rescuers attended Great Asby shortly before 5am on January 1, after reports that a car had overturned with two passengers inside.

“In the first callout for a Cumbrian Mountain Rescue Team, and possibly for the whole country, Kirkby Stephen Mountain Rescue Team responded to a request for assistance from the police at 4.36am on New Year’s Day,” said a spokesman.

“Sixteen members of the team answered the call to locate a young man who had been involved in a car crash.”

The spokesman said the man had ‘reported himself missing’ after leaving the scene and walking onto a nearby fell.

The team, together with the police and ambulance service, located the upturned vehicle, where they found a second young man inside.

The spokesman continued: “The missing man returned to the vehicle, possibly drawn by the flashing lights, before a full search was started. Neither man was injured.”

Later on the same day 19 members of the team turned out to support an annual fell race, which left several runners suffering hypothermia and exhaustion.

The Nine Standards New Year’s Day Fell Run, which began and ended in Kirkby Stephen Market Square and rose to a little over 2,000 feet, saw runners forced to battle cold, rain and sleet.

Several of the 129 participants needed to be assessed, treated and assisted from the fell by members of the team.