MOUNTAIN rescuers in the Lake District were called to assist a climber who had become trapped between rocks.

The female climber had been scaling a crack that runs behind the main face of the crag inside Dovenest Crags at Borrowdale when she slipped into an ever-narrowing gap, ending up hidden behind a boulder.

Sheltered from the elements due to the location but unable to extract herself, her friend had to descend to the valley floor to raise the alarm.

Due to the potential problems with such an incident, Keswick Mountain Rescue Team responded very quickly and had its first vehicle on the way within 15 minutes of the 999 call on Monday evening (September 11). The main concern for the team was that the entrapment had been caused by a rock moving onto her, this can lead to many complicated medical problems requiring an advanced and rapid response.

With this in mind, the team called on resources from further mountain rescue doctors, COMRU, Cumbria Fire and Rescue service and the Coast Guard.

The Coast Guard helicopter was unable to work at the scene due to the turbulent winds, but kindly ferried doctors and COMRU as well as their heavy kit up to the incident location.

Only once the team and doctor were on scene, and it was established that no medical attention was required, the extra resources were stood down.

The extraction of the casualty could then be completed with a 5:1 pulley system, although not simple in the narrow gap containing several team members.

After being checked over, wrapped up and fed, the casualty and team members headed down the hill.

In total, the rescue took 19 team members 3 hours 30 mins to carry out.