A FARMER and his wife have been described as "angels'' for coming to the aid of walkers who wandered off the beaten track and got lost.

A group of 20 walkers, including a woman nursing a suspected dislocated shoulder after she is believed to have fallen, came across isolated Ouldray Farm, the home of 65-year-old John Medd and his wife, Barbara, on the edge of the North Yorkshire Moors.

The walk had been led by Bob Woodhouse, a veteran walker and author of walking books, and was organised for a Stockton adult education class.

Lost, the hikers, who had been walking for more than four hours, some of it in the dark, got the farmer and his wife out of bed.

Mr Medd, who farms on the hills above the hamlet of Rievaulx, near Helmsley, said: "They were in a predicament. They were completely lost."

Mrs Medd comforted the injured woman and offered tea, while Mr Medd drove the walkers back to their cars.

The injured woman was taken to Middlesbrough General Hospital by her husband for treatment.

A member of the party, who asked not to be named said: "They were absolute angels. Mr Medd was absolutely terrific."

Mr Woodhouse could not be contacted for comment at the weekend, but one walker said: "We have not lost confidence in him. There were some people in the party who had been walking with him for 20 years, and this had never happened before."