MOUNTAIN rescue volunteers are warning walkers to be cautious when out alone on Turton Moor after a woman spent four hours waiting to be rescued.

Kezia Sterling broke her foot while out walking her dog alone.

When she was finally discovered she was starting to suffer from the effects of hypothermia.

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Bolton Mountain Rescue Team were among the emergency services attempting to locate Ms Sterling who had been injured while out on the moors.

After being unable to give an exact, recognisable location it took a Police Air Support Unit Helicopter to spot her before she could be airlifted to safety.

A warning has been issued by Bolton Mountain Rescue to anyone going out on their own walking. Communications officer Steve Fletcher said: “Our advice is always to dress for the occasion and let someone know the route you are taking if you are going out on your own.”

The operation to find Ms Sterling, from Darwen, followed an earlier call out when the team helped a 20-year-old woman who had sustained a lower leg injury while walking at Rivington on Friday. She was taken to safety by eight members of the team and driven to hospital, by Land Rover, for treatment.

In the afternoon the team was called out by police and the ambulance service and was joined by colleagues from Oldham Mountain Rescue and Rossendale and Pendle Mountain Rescue.

A spokesman for the Bolton team said there were ‘initial issues’ in getting an accurate location for a ‘lone casualty’ with a suspected broken leg. She was spotted by a crew from the Police Air Support Unit helicopter on Turton Moor.

Due to the adverse weather conditions the aircraft could not land nearby, but a member of the aircrew was able to walk to her location while the rescue teams made their way there.

The woman was suffering from the effects of hypothermia so the teams requested a coastguard aircraft from Caernarfon. She was treated at the scene and flown to hospital.

On Facebook Ms Sterling said she had set out onto the moors with her dog, Tia, just after 9am. It started to rain and she ‘had a run in with some cows’ and as she turned back she went over on her ankle. But the location she gave to emergency services was not recognisable.

She said: “I phoned the police and they had no idea where I was.” She said when she was found four hours later she was ‘very cold, soggy and sore’.

She added: “They were fantastic with me and looked after my dog. It will be a while before I pluck up the courage to go walking again. It’s really shaken me.”