Rescuers stretcher the woman from the Grains Gill incident. Photo: Keswick MRT

A walker was stretchered from a Lakeland fell after suffering a broken ankle.

The 30-year-old woman fell and twisted her knee on the path leading down from Great End to Grains Gill.

Keswick Mountain Rescue Team was alerted about 1.35pm yesterday, Thursday, and went to the aid of the woman.

A team spokesperson said the incident happened just below Great End when the walker slipped. “This caused her to fall backwards and cause a recurrence of an existing back problem,” the spokesperson said.

“The team despatched a vehicle with six personnel, but further back-up was slowed by a subsequent callout. Because of low cloud, air support was not an option, so the team requested further assistance from Cockermouth MRT.”

Keswick’s 18 team members were joined by 13 from the Cockermouth team and the woman was treated at the scene before being stretchered down to an ambulance in the valley, which took her to West Cumberland Hospital in Whitehaven.

The rescue lasted five hours.

The Keswick team also dealt with an injured 78-year-old man who slipped and fell while walking the shoreline of Derwent Water close to Ashness landing stage.

The team was alerted about 2pm and went to the scene, where ambulance staff had been unable to carry the man from the shore after he suffered a serious head injury.

Keswick MRT members diverted from the Grains Gill rescue and helped stretcher the walker from the lake shore to the ambulance, then returned to the fellside incident.

The Keswick team has responded to 78 calls this year.