Wasdale MRT members stretcher the man from Great End

A team of cheeky Three Peaks Challengers asked exhausted mountain rescue volunteers for a lift back to their minibus.

The Wasdale Mountain Rescue Team members were returning to base after a sleepless night spent rescuing a challenger who had fallen 9m (30ft) into a deep gill above Wasdale Head in the Lake District.

The rescuers had spent the day organising and taking part in the annual Kern Knotts Crack yesterday, Saturday, in the village and had just got to bed when they were alerted to the injured man’s plight shortly after midnight.

Richard Warren, chairman of the team whose patch includes England’s highest mountain Scafell Pike, said: “After a full day spent organising and running a fundraising day at Wasdale Head, including an auction that finished at 11pm, members of Wasdale Mountain Rescue Team were relieved to be in their beds by midnight but not so relieved when they were called out at a quarter past midnight to rescue a gentleman attempting the Three Peaks Challenge who had slipped and tumbled about 30 feet into Skew Gill.”

He said the man was treated at the scene, north of Great End, for head, arm and leg injuries before being stretchered down to an ambulance in the valley.

The team members were back at their base by 5.45am and back in bed by 6.30.

Mr Warren added: “It is interesting to note that the Three Peaks Challenge, originally attempted during long daylight hours of midsummer is now a year-round activity.

Great End and Skew Gill, from the strecher box at Sty Head

“Throughout the day there was a constant stream of minibuses disgorging their occupants ready for their second ascent of the challenge, Scafell Pike, even though the weather was atrocious with very heavy rain, zero visibility in the thick cloud and stream crossings made hazardous by the high rainfall.

“There were still teams of Three Peakers coming off Scafell as the rescue team returned and one team even had the audacity to ask the team minibus to ferry them back to their own minibus, a mile up the road.”

The fundraising weekend at the Wasdale Head Inn included a talk by fellrunning legend and Wasdale resident Jos Naylor, music by Cat Like Thief and a charity auction of walking gear.

The event brought in more than £2,000 for the team’s coffers.