A MAN had to be rescued when he became trapped on a precarious ledge after he fell down a cliff.

The 23-year-old’s cries for help were heard by a passerby at about 11.45am yesterday.

However, because of the position of the injured man, it took nearly three hours to rescue him and fly him to hospital.

The incident took place in the Huntcliff area, near the village of Skinningrove, east Cleveland.

Ian Forsyth, who captured the rescue on camera, said: “A passer-by heard the man screaming for help from the cliff’s edge and called the emergency services. It took them a while to rescue the man because of the dangerous position he was in.

“It all looked very dramatic and all the emergency services were working together to safely rescue the injured man.”

Fire crews, the RAF helicopter, coastguard and ambulance service were all called to the accident, which ended at 2.45pm.

A police spokeswoman said: “We received a call just before lunchtime about a man who had fallen down a cliffside. We scrambled the force helicopter, and the crew managed to locate the man, who was on a ledge about 70ft down the cliffside.

“It proved to be quite a difficult rescue.”

A helicopter was scrambled from RAF Boulmer, in Northumberland, and a crew member was lowered to assess the level of the man’s injuries.

A coastguard spokeswoman said: “After the man was located, the RAF was scrambled and they lowered a crew member down to check on his condition.

“After assessing his injuries, the man was safely secured and transferred to The James Cook University Hospital (in Middlesbrough) for treatment to a broken leg.”

Fire crews were on also standby with a specialist rescue team brought in from Coulby Newham station, in Middlesbrough.

The man remained in hospital last night.