A MAN who survived hours overnight in arctic conditions on Pendle Hill today praised the team who rescued him and his friends and said: "Thank you for saving our lives."

Bus driver Anthony Burns, and his friends John and Maralyn Ljevar, were airlifted from Pendle Hill at 3am on Sunday after being found huddled together in the driving rain by Rossendale Search and Rescue Team.

Anthony, 48, told how their Sunday afternoon walk almost ended in disaster and spoke of his gratitude to the volunteer rescue team.

He said: "We set off at about 12.30pm and the weather was really nice. But as the day went on the fog came in and the weather got really bad. Then John slipped from the path into the river and got really wet, so he started getting very cold.

"We knew we were lost. I had a mobile phone but we were in a valley and couldn't get a signal. I knew John was getting colder and we had to get off the mountain quickly so I scrambled up the hill as far as I could where I finally managed to get a signal. We didn't have a torch, so we couldn't see and I had no idea what time it was."

Anthony, of Bank Hey Lane South, Blackburn, phoned his daughter Pauline Falkirk to spark the massive rescue operation.

He said: "Pauline couldn't believe it when I told her, but she was fantastic. She called the police and they got the rescue team out." Rossendale Search and Rescue Team set off on foot from Barley Village Hall at about 9.45pm and finally found the threesome at Ogden Clough at about 11pm.

Maralyn, 51, and Anthony, were cold and wet but physically all right. John was suffering from hypothermia and had to be wrapped in special fleece and carried on a stretcher for a mile until the team could meet up with the RAF helicopter. John and Maralyn of New Park Road, Blackburn, and Anthony, were taken to Burnley General Hospital and were released after treatment.