An 85-year-old woman remains in a critical condition in hospital after her car left a Lake District road and plunged 30ft into a stream.

Emergency services had to carry out a dramatic rescue off the side of the A592 near Glenridding.

Police, firefighters and paramedics were joined by members of the Patterdale Mountain Rescue Team and a rescue helicopter from Prestwick.

The woman, believed to be from the Glenridding area, was airlifted to Preston General Hospital.

Patterdale's playing field became the makeshift helipad of the helicopter during the rescue.

A spokesman for Cumbria Police confirmed that her Hyundai car left the road at around 4.55pm yesterday.

The woman was cut free from the car. Firefighters removed the roof to help reach her and mountain rescue team members helped extricate her.

"She was flown from the scene by air ambulance to Preston Royal Infirmary, where she is described as being in a critical condition," police said this morning.

The incident happened between Glencoyne Wood and Glenridding Dodd.

The cause of the single-car crash is not yet clear and police investigations continue.

Anyone with information is asked to contact PC 1636 on 101, quoting log 162 of December 8.

Crimestoppers can be contacted anonymously on 0800 555111.