Holidaymakers' Lakes stroll leads to ten hour rescue bid (From The Westmorland Gazette)

Holidaymakers' Lakes stroll leads to ten hour rescue bid

4:46pm Monday 27th October 2008 in News By Ellie Hargreaves

MOUNTAIN rescue teams spent more than ten hours tracking down a party of friends who had gone for a short walk in the Lake District on Saturday.

The group, who were holidaying in the Langdale area, found themselves in the middle of a torrential downpour and were forced to call for help after rivers and streams swelled to dangerously high levels and they could not make their way home.

Nick Owen of the Langdale and Ambleside Mountain Rescue Team said the party had set off for a “short walk” in Oxendale at 10am in the morning but had been prepared for neither the weather or the dark.

“They had crossed a couple of streams and couldn’t get back over them. When darkness fell and they hadn’t returned the alarm was raised and we set out to find them but it took until after 3am.

“Then we encountered problems getting back to our base because the roads were so bad with flooding and cars were abandoned everywhere, blocking our path.”