Carlton Bank, scene of the rescue

Rescuers guided a group of lost walkers to safety by sounding their vehicle sirens and turning on the blue flashing lights.

Cleveland Mountain Rescue Team went to the aid of the five men who were lost on moorland on the route of the Coast to Coast Walk.

The walkers, aged between 19 and 21 and from Stockton on Tees and Eaglescliffe, got into difficulties as cloud descended and darkness fell on the North York Moors.

They phoned police to say they were lost.

A Cleveland MRT spokesperson said the group set off from Carlton Bank about 6pm on Friday in bright conditions.

The spokesperson said: “However by 8.30 pm conditions were deteriorating quickly, as low cloud and heavy rain reduced visibility to a matter of a few feet.

“As darkness fell the group lost their way and after wandering around the moor for some time they realised they were lost and phoned for help.

“The Cleveland Mountain Rescue Team managed to make contact with the group by mobile phone and established that the group had walked past the old glider station on Carlton Bank.

“Just after midnight two Land Rovers, a search dog and 18 members of the rescue team began their search of the paths across from Carlton towards Scugdale. With visibility almost zero the team put on the blue lights and sirens of the vehicles in the hope that the group would see and hear the team.

“The strategy worked and the group were able to walk toward the team vehicle and rescue.

“By 1.40am they were safely in the team Land Rovers

Barry Warrington of Cleveland MRT said: “Conditions were appalling; fortunately we were able to keep contact with the group via mobile phone.

“With the limited information they were able to give us, together with a lot of local knowledge we were able to locate the group relatively quickly and get the lads safely off the moor.

“They were all cold and soaked through. If they had ended up spending the night on the moor circumstances might have been very different.”