A mountain rescue leader says it is "miraculous" that a walker, whose disappearance prompted a huge search operation, managed to survive up a Lake District fell unaided for two nights.

Richard Cockerham had not been seen since Sunday when he travelled to Cumbria to climb Scafell Pike.

Concerns were raised when no one heard anything else from him but his car was discovered parked up at Wasdale Head.

The police called in Wasdale Mountain Rescue Team on Sunday evening with teams from across Cumbria and beyond later joining them in the search.

At its height the rescue mission involved more than 70 team members, plus Coastguard helicopter crews and 12 specially-trained search dogs.

Mountain rescue teams from Duddon, Furness and Keswick were also involved on Sunday before efforts resumed yesterday with help from teams from Wasdale, Kendal, Coniston, Penrith, Cockermouth and the Lake District Mountain Rescue Search Dogs.

The Prestwick Coastguard helicopter also joined the search yesterday with no success.

Resources were bolstered early this morning with teams from Kirkby Stephen and RAF Mountain Rescue and Bowland Pennine assisting existing personnel.

Some of the search dog teams came from as far away as Oldham.

The rescuers searched a huge area on Sunday evening, right through Monday and into yesterday morning.

Mr Cockerham was eventually found "safe and well" at 10am in the Silverybield Crag area heading towards the Upper Eskdale area but stuck in boggy ground.

The 29-year-old, from Leeds, was airlifted to Furness General Hospital in Barrow upon him being found.

A police spokesman said: "He had suffered some injuries, believed to have been from a fall, but is expected to make a full recovery."

Richard Warren, chairman of the Lake District Search and Mountain Rescue Association, is also a member of the Wasdale team.

"The rescue mission was a big deal," Mr Warren said.

"It was miraculous he survived. He has been out there for two nights in sub-zero temperatures.

"It will be interesting to find out what type of gear he had to help him survive."

The mission was so big and involved so many different groups it was upgraded to silver level, a higher alert level than most routine rescues.

"We would like to reinforce the message that people who are out in those sort of conditions should be really careful," said Mr Warren.

Neil Blewett, aeronautical operations controller at the Air Rescue Coordination Centre for HM Coastguard, said: "This is a fantastic outcome and testament to the perseverance and determination of not only the huge number of teams out searching but also the casualty.

"Hope was fading of finding the walker safe and well after such a long period in such challenging weather conditions. He is mildly hypothermic and has sustained some other minor injuries but is conscious and has been flown to hospital. We wish him a speedy recovery."