Rescuers at the scene at Claerwen Reservoir. Photo: Brecon MRT

Quick thinking by mountain rescue controllers helped get a group of stranded bikers out of trouble.

The motorcyclists got lost in the area of Claerwen Reservoir in mid-Wales.

The four off-road bikers from Kent called police for help and Brecon Mountain Rescue Team was called out shortly before midnight on Friday.

A team spokesperson said: “Due to the remoteness of the location Brecon incident controllers asked for the assistance of Longtown Mountain Rescue Team also.

“The first mountain rescue party dispatched had a 4.5km walk over extremely difficult moorland terrain on the south bank of the Claerwen Reservoir. It took the rescue party three hours to reach the missing bikers, who were cold and exhausted when the rescuers found them.

“They had abandoned their bikes and had become lost and disorientated in their attempts to walk out of the area to safety.”

The spokesperson said one of the men had a medical condition that made it almost impossible for him to walk, even with assistance.

Brecon MRT requested the help of the Caernarfon Coastguard helicopter which was scrambled, but bad weather prevented it reaching the scene. “The problem was solved by some lateral thinking by the incident control team who realised that a short 350m boat trip across the reservoir to the north shore would lead to a byway along which an evacuation by four-wheel drive vehicle could be arranged,” the spokesperson said.

“Mid and West Fire and Rescue Service from Aberystwyth was called and provided a boat, which was launched from the Claerwen dam and made its way, 4.5km along the reservoir to the casualty site.”

All four bikers were then safely brought to the awaiting Land Rover. The spokesperson said it was ‘another example of rescue services, mountain rescue, fires service and police working together to effect a rescue in difficult terrain’.