A MAN is fighting for his life after a group of walkers was engulfed in an avalanche and swept 750ft down a Lake District fell.

Three rescue helicopters were scrambled and sent to St Sunday Crag to support the Patterdale Mountain Rescue Team after an emergency call was received at 2pm on Monday.

After being swept down the fell, the injured walkers were trapped on Pinnacle Ridge, Patterdale, and could not be reached on foot.

Rescue team members and the doctor were gradually airlifted on to the ridge by a Sea King helicopter from RAF Boulmer in North-umberland. Two air ambulance helicopters were also involved in the six-hour rescue operation.

The injured men were winched to safety and taken to Cumberland Infirmary, Carlisle.

A 23-year-old man is in a critical condition with serious head injuries and a 21-year-old man is in inten-sive care with multiple injuries. A 54-year-old man injured his ankle.

A fourth member of the group, in his fifties and from the Merseyside area, was not caught in the avalanche and raised the alarm.

Martin Cotterell, team leader at Patterdale Mountain Rescue said: “We believe the party triggered the avalanche as they passed a point called Pinnacle Ridge.

“The two who were more seriously injured were swept away about 750ft. Some of the slopes in this area are currently unstable.

“Two of the walkers, both from the Redcar area, are in intensive care at Cumberland Infirmary.”

A spokesman for Cumbria Police said: “We would like to thank the mountain rescue team, the military search and rescue personnel and the air ambulance crews for their efforts in the rescue operation.

“We would urge walkers to take care and avoid high land due to potentially treacherous conditions caused by snow and ice.”

As part of Alfred Wainwright’s popular Coast to Coast Walk, St Sunday Crag is popular with walkers.