The two weekend cave rescues were the first of the year for the CRO

A volunteer team carried out its first underground rescue of the year at the weekend.

Members of the Cave Rescue Organisation were called to help an exhausted caver in Bar Pot in the Gaping Gill system on Ingleborough.

The 20-year-old man was unable to ascend the second pitch of the pothole and the Clapham-based team was alerted at 4.05pm on Sunday. They hauled both the exhausted man and his 20-year-old caving companion to the surface and transported the two men to Clapham.

The following night, four cavers were reported overdue on a trip from Lancaster Hole to Wretched Rabbit in the Ease Gill system in eastern Cumbria. A major search, which began at 11.30pm on Sunday, found the four men, aged 18, 30, 33 and 38 in the High Level Route, making their way back to Lancaster Hole. They had failed to find the connection to Wretched Rabbit.

One of the men was hauled up the entrance pitch because he was exhausted.

The team had been called to an injured walker on Saturday who fell while descending Ingleborough’s western side towards Chapel-le-Dale. The 55-year-old woman suffered head and chest injuries after falling forwards.

She was treated at the scene by paramedics from the air ambulance and CRO members carried her the short distance to the helicopter which flew her to hospital.

The Cave Rescue Organisation is one of three volunteer teams in Yorkshire that carry out rescues both above and below ground. This year it is celebrating its 75th anniversary.