A 10-YEAR-OLD boy has been flown to hospital with serious head and pelvic injuries after falling 50 metres (165ft) while climbing down Swirral Edge with his father.

The child, from Preston, slipped on a steep snow slope before plunging from the Helvellyn ridge at around 3.30pm today, Patterdale Mountain Rescue Team said.

The Great North Air Ambulance (GNAA) and a Sea King helicopter from RAF Boulmer were also called in to help.

A GNAA doctor and paramedic were dropped off on the ridge and Patterdale team members airlifted to the boy's location.

When rescuers reached them, they found the boy conscious but suffering from suspected pelvic and head injuries.

The boy was winched into the Sea King with his father and the GNAA doctor and airlifted to the Royal Victoria Infirmary in Newcastle.