Rescuers stretcher one of the injured people from the scene. Photo: Langdale Ambleside MRT

A coachload of Chinese tourists was among 40 people rescued from a Lake District pass after blizzards brought chaos to the road.

Mountain rescuers from three teams worked to bring motorists to safety from the Kirkstone Pass after an accident involving a number of vehicles in which one car overturned.

Langdale Ambleside Mountain Rescue Team was joined by colleagues from the Patterdale and Penrith teams at the scene, 454m (1,489ft) up on the road between Windermere and Ullswater.

The overturned car on the Kirkstone Pass. Photo: Langdale Ambleside MRT

Two people were freed from the car on its roof and stretchered to a Langdale Ambleside Land Rover which then took them to an ambulance waiting at a lower level.

Police, fire and rescue and ambulance staff were joined in the operation by 12 Langdale and 15 Patterdale volunteers, along with a number from the Penrith team. Some stranded motorists were taken to the Kirkstone Pass Inn at the summit of the route, while the Patterdale team ferried 40 people down to its base in the valley.

Members of the team had just taken part in the rescue of a man who survived a 650ft fall from Helvellyn and suffered only minor injuries.

Mountain rescuers work with the emergency services at the scene on the Kirkstone Pass. Photo: Langdale Ambleside MRT

Patterdale MRT’s volunteers were out for 12 hours on Sunday, including winter training. A spokesperson said: “We’re constantly filling up our freezer with food at the minute and it keeps getting eaten by casualties and team members alike.

“I think we’ll need a bigger freezer, if 2015 keeps up at this rate.”

The team is currently fundraising to replace its current radios which are tired and starting to fail, the spokesperson said. Donations can be made online via the team’s website.