A NORTH-EAST climber had a miraculous escape when he survived a 1,000ft plunge down a Scottish mountainside.

The 43-year-old, from the Darlington area, escaped with leg and back injuries, but is not thought to be in a life-threatening condition.

The unnamed man was making a solo-climb in Glencoe on Thursday morning when he lost his footing and slithered down the snow-clad slopes.

The alarm was raised by another climber who saw the fall and contacted the emergency services on her mobile phone.

Luckily, a member of Glencoe Mountain Rescue was on the mountain at the time and was able to reach the scene in minutes.

He was joined by eight other team members and the man was airlifted by helicopter to Belford Hospital in Fort William.

The climber, who does not wish to be named, was on Stob Coire Nan Lochan when the accident happened.

The mountain is a popular spot for climbers, especially in winter and the man was making his way up a gully to the summit when he fell.

Paul Williams, rescue team secretary, said: "It is an average grade climb and the conditions were excellent with sunshine and perfect snow.

"It looks as if he was just unlucky and slipped as he was making his way up the gully.

"It wasn't a sheer fall - he fell down a slope - but he was very lucky not to hit anything on the way down.

He added: "He looked as if he had a broken ankle and, as with every fall, we put him in a full body splint. He seemed to be in good spirits."

Meanwhile, the body of a man was found yesterday by rescue teams searching for a missing climber from Skipton, North Yorkshire.

The discovery was made at Torridon, in the Scottish Highlands, where 49-year-old Terry Trueman had been reported missing.

It is understood members of his family have travelled to the area.

The body has not been formally identified and a post-mortem examination is expected to be carried out later today.