A FARMER has been hailed a hero after spending three hours by the side of hiker who collapsed in remote countryside.

Reuben Atkinson was tending to his sheep near Widdy Bank Fell, in Upper Teesdale, when he came across a walker who he thought was waving but then collapsed in front of him on Sunday.

The 45-year-old quickly scooped him up onto his quad bike and took him to the Langdon Beck Hotel, in Forest-in-Teesdale, for help.

However, it was only then that the 66-year-old revealed his friend had also collapsed from exhaustion and he had left him to go for help.

Mr Atkinson headed straight back out in the blustery conditions to find the other man who was stranded and unable to carry on.

And because of his knowledge of the Fell he quickly located the 62-year-old near a waterfall at Cauldron Snout.

To keep the walker warm, Mr Atkinson ripped open a sheep feed bag to spread over him as well as giving him his waterproof coat and jumper.

He was then in for a long wait as police, ambulance and the Teesdale and Weardale Search and Mountain Rescue Team scrambled to locate the pair.

Police officers were first on the scene at the hotel at about 6pm but a lack of phone signal and the vastness of the fell meant they were facing a battle to locate the pair.

And that was when friends Daniel Bell, 20, and James Scott, 19, offered to help guide the officers and the pair were found at about 9pm.

The three men then helped officers stretcher him off the fell to an ambulance waiting on the road below.

It is understood the casualties, of Darlington, have since made a full recovery.

The three men have since been praised for their actions with the police leaving money behind the hotel bar for a few ‘thank you pints’.

Mr Atkinson, of Rose Tree Farm, said: “The empty feed bag was the only thing I had so I just cut it open and put it round his shoulders.”

He added: “Daniel and James managed to walk the first officer up here to where they thought we would be - local knowledge is the most important thing and you cannot buy that.

“Mobile phone signal up here is so pitiful it really is something that’s quite a concern. If he had been hurt it could have been a very serious outcome.”