A VETERAN caver has described the breakthrough moment when a new cave was discovered beneath the slopes of the Yorkshire Dales.

The spectacular subterranean feature has been named Perilous Pot, and its exact location on the slopes of Gragareth, between Kirkby Lonsdale and Ingleton, is being kept secret while experienced cavers continue to explore its intricate network of passages.

Tim Allen, 55, who lives near Ingleton, described the 'elation' when cavers excavated an underground route blocked by glacial boulders to reveal a 27m (90ft) vertical drop with a waterfall and fluted rock walls, and an 18m (60ft) high chamber whose roof resembles the Milky Way.

"It's fantastic," said Tim, a lifelong caver. "You're actually discovering something and you're seeing something that no one has ever laid eyes on before, so we were highly elated."

He added: "For climbers, virtually every mountain has been climbed. You've got to go to remote jungles to go anywhere new, or down to the trenches at the bottom of the ocean or into outer space; yet here we've got new ground."

The team made the remarkable discovery during one of its regular recreational caving trips after breakfasting at an Ingleton cafe. The party consisted of Tim, Mick Nunwick, Geoff Yeadon, Geoff Crossley, Simon Corncrake, Joe Giblin, Pete O'Neil, Frank Pearson, who captured the stunning rock features on camera, and Diane Arthurs, the Kendal caver who discovered a human skull near Nether Kellet in 2014.

"It is worth pondering on the fact that this cave has never seen a light in all its existence until we stepped into it," explained Tim. "It is amazing to think that these places can still be found on our doorstep."

Cavers have named the vertical drop Monumental Pitch, after one of their favourite Kirkby Lonsdale-brewed beers, and the chamber with its white translucent coating on the roof has become Constellation Hall.

As Tim explained, the team had their breakthrough after carefully excavating a route around a small passage blocked by glacial action washing material into the cave tens of thousands of years ago, and they used special rope techniques to descend the 90ft drop.

With further exploration, they hope to work out where Perilous Pot "fits into the jigsaw of caves underneath the Yorkshire Dales" and the 90km Three Counties cave system, the longest and most complicated network in Britain.