The man fell 50m from the summit of Striding Edge

A man was seriously injured after falling from a Lake District scramble.

The 44-year-old fell about 50m (164ft) from Striding Edge on Helvellyn today, Saturday.

An RAF search and rescue Sea King helicopter which was on a training exercise in the area flew to the man’s aid.

A spokesperson for the Patterdale Mountain Rescue Team, which was alerted about 1.40pm, said although the walker was badly injured, he managed to arrest his fall on steep and broken ground.

The crew then returned to the valley to pick up rescue team members and their equipment and fly them to the incident site.

The spokesperson said: “Because of the nature of the ground the helicopter was unable to land and had to winch the team down to the site.

“Team members then assisted the RAF paramedic in treating the casualty at the scene and packaging him in a vacuum mattress before he was winched from the site.”

He was flown to the Cumberland Infirmary in Carlisle for further treatment while rescuers accompanied other walkers, who had gone to the man’s aid, from the site.

Striding Edge, the arête leading towards the 950m (3,117ft) summit plateau of Helvellyn is rated as a grade one scramble, mainly because it has exposure in places. It presents few technical difficulties apart from an awkward step near the end of the ridge, down into a steep groove.

It is one of the Lake District’s most popular scrambling routes.