A VETERAN paraglider was seriously ill in hospital last night after an accident on the North-East coast.

Ronald Donaldson was undergoing treatment for head and pelvic injuries in Newcastle General Hospital following a crash while "ridge sawing" over cliffs at Seaham, County Durham. He was unable to gain enough height on an inshore swoop and hit the cliff face near Seaham Hall Hotel.

A passer-by spotted the 69-year-old Newcastle man lying just above beach level following the accident, on Thursday evening.

A crew was called from Ryhope Ambulance Station, near Sunderland, and reached him within six minutes. Paramedics stabilised his condition and a North-East Air Ambulance was alerted, due to the difficult location just above beach level.

The helicopter ambulance landed on the beach within ten minutes of take-off from Teesside Airport, and its crew, helped by the paramedics, lifted Mr Donaldson down to beach level.

Air crew paramedic John Kerr said the main difficulty was removing the wreckage of his paraglider without harming him further.

"He was all tangled in his parachute and harness. The biggest problem was to disentangle him before we got him onto a spinal board," he said.

"He was conscious, but in quite a bit of pain and we treated him on the beach, and then on board, once we lifted him into the helicopter."

Mr Donaldson was airlifted to North Tees Hospital, Stockton, before being transferred to Newcastle General, where he was in a stable condition last night.

An ambulance spokesman said: "He was very fortunate in terms of the injuries he sustained. They could have potentially been far more serious."

A witness who saw Mr Donaldson about an hour before the accident said he did not appear to be in any difficulty and was well clear of the cliffs.

Mr Donaldson, a member of the Newcastle and Northumbria Paragliding and Hangliding Club, is described as an experienced pilot, capable of dealing with difficult conditions.