Long Churn Caves are popular with novices

A search of caves by rescuers was called off after police were notified a potholer was safe.

Members of the Cave Rescue Organisation began a search of Long Churn Caves and Alum Pot today after a car was reported to have been left overnight near Selside in the Yorkshire Dales.

The Clapham-based rescue team assembled a small team and began searching at 9.35am today because of worries the vehicle’s owner may have got into difficulties in the nearby cave system.

However, shortly after the operation began, the car’s owner, a caver, phoned police to say he had been forced to abandon the car after losing his keys.

The callout was the team’s 69th this year.