A CLIMBER was rescued in a seven-hour operation after getting stuck 250 feet up a cliff.

The 25-year-old, from Bury, became stranded on a small ledge on the 400-foot Falcon Crag in the Grisedale area of the Lake District.

A huge rescue operation was launched at 8pm on Friday (Jan 11) when the man, who has not been named, alerted the coastguard and police on his mobile phone.

With low cloud and falling temperatures 18 members of the Patterdale Mountain Rescue Team were joined by the RAF Leeming Mountain Rescue Team who were training nearby.

A rescue helicopter from RAF Boulmer was also scrambled.

Dave Freeborn, team leader with Patterdale MRT, said: "The man was stuck on a very small ledge on Falcon Crag and had used his ice-axe to anchor himself against the rock face. "We were talking to him constantly throughout the rescue and, fortunately, he used his Global Positioning System (GPS) to give us his location. However, it is a big rock face and it was very misty. It did take us a while to actually find him."

The Sea King helicopter was unable to fly into the area above Falcon Crag due to poor visibility. After refuelling at RAF Boulmer the machine returned to the area and waited nearby for a gap in the cloud cover.

It is believed the climber had been making his way back to his car in Grisedale and was following a GPS grid reference when he wandered off course and became trapped on the ledge.

Mr Freeborn said lengthy ropes were used to lower a team member to the stricken climber who was then winched to safety. He was not injured.

Patterdale MRT has now warned of the dangers of relying solely on GPS which receive signals from satellites to pinpoint locations.

Mr Freeborn said: "They are useful navigational tools but they must be used in conjunction with a map and compass.

"This man had a map but it was not waterproof and the wet weather made it unreadable."