A MAN last night spoke of his 80ft plunge from the top of England's mightiest waterfall.

Alan Whittaker, 55, is thought to be the only person to survive after falling from the top of High Force, in County Durham, suffering only a broken shoulder. Eighty people before him are known to have died.

Mr Whittaker, from Nottingham, was on a walking holiday in Teesdale with his wife, Liz, 53.

He was taking photographs on Saturday when he lost his footing. He plunged over the edge, landing in the whirlpool below.

Last night, Mr Whittaker told The Northern Echo: "I just missed my footing and the next thing I was in the water. I remember the camera smashing on a rock and then I was over. I went down into the water, and then down and down, before eventually coming to the surface.

"The water was like a whirlpool so I was going round and round. I managed to strike out to the edge, and someone came and pulled me out.

"The funny thing is, while we were having lunch, we were watching some young guys climbing over the rocks close to the water and I thought they could easily go over - and then it happened to me."

He said his wife was only alerted when she saw him being pulled to safety by fellow visitors Naman Shahine and Grant Darrie.

"She had gone further round the edge to take photos. When she'd done that, she couldn't find me and spent five minutes looking," he said.

"Then she saw some commotion on the other side of the river. She got her binoculars out and saw what was going on and ran all the way round to meet me."

Mr Whittaker escaped with a broken shoulder, bruised ribs and minor wounds. He was treated at the University Hospital of North Durham, in Durham City, and was discharged yesterday.