A FEMALE walker was stretchered back to Clapham on Sunday after she fell, injuring herself, close to Gaping Gill on the path to Ingleborough.

The 59 year old slipped on wet rock next to Fell Beck, a few metres before the beck falls into Gaping Gill - a 98 metre (322ft) pothole which leads to one of the largest known underground chambers in Britain.

Clapham based Cave Rescue Organisation, which received a call for help at 12.37pm, said it was originally reported that the woman was inside the caves and that her wrist was broken, but once it was confirmed she was indeed on the surface, team members were able to respond in the right way.

A CRO spokesperson said: "A team member, who was out for a walk, ran down from the top of Ingleborough and was able to advise what equipment would be needed.

"He also reported that the casualty had significant pain in her lower back, having landed on her coccyx. Other team members carried up the necessary equipment, administered pain relief, splinted the wrist and eased the casualty into an insulated casualty bag and onto a stretcher. Meanwhile, the availability of an air ambulance had been queried, but the weather was said to be against this. The casualty was carried down to a team Land Rover, waiting at the bottom of Trow Gill, having been further assessed by a YAS paramedic, on the way. Back in Clapham, she was handed over to a YAS ambulance crew for the journey to hospital."