MOUNTAIN rescuers were called into action after a trio of adventurers became stranded on the side of a Lake District crag on a cold night.

It is another in a long list of recent incidents as rescuers find themselves busier than they would normally be at this time of year.

The climbers, who were in their early twenties, were descending Scafell Crag on Saturday when their rope became snagged.

After finding themselves stranded about 100m up - with no phone signal and the night becoming colder - the group was forced to shout and flash torches for help.

A walker who was ascending Scafell Pike - the crag in-fact being on neighbouring Scafell - raised the alarm, with mountain rescuers being called out at around 11pm. A Coastguard helicopter lifted team members to the location.

John Wealthall, deputy leader and training officer with Duddon and Furness Mountain Rescue Team (DFMRT), which assisted Wasdale MRT, said: “Without us they could never have got off because their rope had become stuck in the rocks.

“They had nowhere to go.”

He said the route the trio was descending would have seen them land on a ledge which they could walk along before scrambling back up to the top via a gulley.

However, said Mr Wealthall, the group went ‘one ledge too far’ and, to compound their mistake, their rope then became snagged.

The mountain rescue teams in attendance set up a twin rope system at the top of Scafell Pinnacle, with team members then being lowered down and picking up the climbers on the way past.

Mr Wealthall said: “They had some lightweight jackets that they would wear for climbing but they didn’t have stuff to be out overnight in, because that wasn’t the plan.

“The risk if they’d been there all night is obviously hypothermia.

“Because it got colder and colder as the night went on.”

He said the three climbers - two male, one female - were not amateurs and the incident was ‘just one of those unfortunate things.’

The three escaped their ordeal without injury.

Mr Wealthall said DFMRT’s callout numbers were ‘50, 60 per cent’ higher than they would normally be at this time of year, with many of these being to assist Wasdale MRT in dealing with incidents in the Scafell Pike area.

He said the rise in numbers was due to more people ‘staycationing’ in the UK amid the coronavirus pandemic.

He added many were still venturing into the outdoors ill-prepared and ill-equipped, without basics likes maps and compasses.

Visit adventuresmart.uk for more about staying safe.