A HIKER who sparked a mountain rescue search operation was located under the folds of his duvet.

The worn-out walker missed his wife and headed straight for bed after completing a 50-mile trek from Cockermouth to their Ambleside bunkhouse.

Langdale and Ambleside Mountain Rescue Team were called by his worried partner on Saturday morning, after she failed to contact him.

She was worried he had become lost overnight, while reconnoitering a stretch of the annual ultra marathon event, the Lakeland 100.

However, team leader Nick Owen said when rescuers visited her room to gather more information they noticed a lump in the couple’s bed.

“The man must have completely missed his wife,” he said. “She was wandering the streets worried sick and, in the meantime, he had gone back to the accommodation and fallen asleep.”