A WOMAN was taken to hospital with serious injuries following a fall from a cliff on the Seaham seafront today.

Emergency services were called to the scene around 11.30am and the woman was was taken by road ambulance to the Royal Victoria Infirmary in Newcastle, where her injuries have been described as non life threatening.

A North East Ambulance Service spokeswoman said: "We were called at 11.38pm to the beach at Seaham.

"We sent two specialist paramedics, two rapid response vehicles, three Hazardous Area Response Teams and an ambulance crew.

“A Polaris (specialist off-road ambulance) was used to transport the casualty to a road ambulance.

“A doctor from the Great North Air Ambulance, which also attended the scene, accompanied the patient to the Royal Victoria Infirmary.

“Our crews started to leave the scene around 1pm."

The Coastguard was alerted to the incident and three coastguard teams were also in attendance.

A Northumbria Police spokesman said: “The police were informed a person had fallen from the cliffs at Ryehope Dene.

“Her condition is thought to be serious, but not life-threatening.”

County Durham and Darlington Fire and Rescue Service were also in attendance.