Portland in Dorset, cliff rescue.

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Man rescued from cliffs on Portland !

On Saturday a man found clinging halfway down 330 foot-high cliffs on Portland has been plucked to safety.

Luckily his desperate cries for help were heard by a couple walking on the clifftop at West Weare who looked down and initially thought he was sunbathing then realised he was in difficulty and called 999.

The Coastguard scrambled a helicopter crew as well as a a cliff rescue team who spent nearly an hour stabilising the man's severe ankle injuries. The man 29, who is Hungarian but lives and works on Portland was flown to Dorset County Hospital in Dorchester by the coastguard helicopter.

Portland's coastguard helicopter winched down a paramedic-trained crewman who stayed with the man on the cliff side for almost an hour to make him stable. The man had a mobile phone on him but could not use it because he was hanging on.

It is thought that as he was dressed in swimming shorts that he may have gone swimming and then tried to climb up and slipped. It is also thought that he may have broken both his ankles. The man is now recovering in hospital.