POLICE called out a search and rescue team to help find a man lost in the woods at night.

However, after an hour-long search the man, who was thought to be in his 40s, was found safe at his home in Burnhope, near Stanley.

The man, who was known to go for walks in nearby woods, had been missing from home since 11am and his family called the police at 7pm.

The Teesdale and Weardale Search and Rescue Team, at Bishop Auckland, was called and searched the area around the TV mast at Burnhope on Wednesday night.

After the man turned up at his home, rescuers gave him oxygen until an ambulance arrived and took him to hospital. It is thought he had struggled to find his way home and his condition had deteriorated.