A WALKER, trapped with a broken leg at a remote North Yorkshire beautyspot, was plucked to safety after a daring rescue by an RAF helicopter crew.

Flying perilously close to tree tops, the pilot navigated a steep ravine near Goathland to airlift the 52-year-old woman to safety.

The drama began when the woman fell while walking with her husband at New Wath Scar, near the Mallyan Spout waterfall. He managed to raise the alarm at a nearby pub, but when ambulance crews arrived, they realised the location - nearly a mile over rocky terrain to the nearest road - was too inaccessible to use a stretcher.

They also decided it was too dangerous to carry her back along the side of the ravine, even with the help of members of the local mountain rescue team, and called for air assistance.

But when the five-man Sea King helicopter from RAF Leconfield, near Beverley arrived, the pilot decided it was too risky to land on the rocky ground. Instead, as light was failing, he flew into the 150ft-deep ravine, hovering at the perilously low height of 60ft to pick up the woman and fly her to hospital at Scarborough.

Scarborough search-and-rescue team leader Matt Fox, who was involved in the operation, praised the efforts of the air crew.

"They flew into the ravine with one man dangling at the end of his winch. It was very impressive, the trees and the sides of the ravine were only a few feet away."

RAF spokesman Sergeant Phil Astle said rescue efforts were hampered by poor conditions. The unnamed woman, believed to be from the Manchester area, was later discharged from hospital.

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