Cave Rescue Organisation members at work at the scene of the fall, as the Yorkshire Air Ambulance waits close by

A climber was airlifted to hospital after injuring himself when he fell 50ft from a crag in the Yorkshire Dales.

The 32-year-old was leading a route on Twistleton Scars north of Ingleton today when he fell from the limestone cliffs.

The man was climbing a combination of hard-severe-rated Wizzard Wall and Witch Slab on Amphitheatre Buttress when he fell and ripped out some of his runners, hitting the ground 15m below.

The Clapham-based Cave Rescue Organisation, which was called out about 3.15pm, said the climber suffered suspected neck and back injuries in the fall.

He was treated by paramedics and a team doctor at the site before being placed in a vacuum mattress then stretchered down a scree and boulder slope to the Yorkshire Air Ambulance, which had landed below the crag.

The incident was the team’s 65th of the year.

The popular Twistleton Scars have more than 200 named routes on their limestone crags.