An elderly walker was saved from certain death by Woodhead Mountain Rescue Team after he became lost on the moors near Langsett on Tuesday evening.

Woodhead Mountain Rescue Team say the 77-year-old was able to raise the alarm with a mobile phone call and was quizzed by team members expert in knowledge of the moorland to identify the most likely area where he would be found.

Woodhead Mountain Rescue Team carrying out the rescue on Langsett Moor

A search party was dispatched to locate him in very cold and snowy conditions with limited visibility. Luckily, they found him.

He was very cold and suffering from hypothermia and the team provided shelter, a warm drink and food before leaving the moorland.

He was unable to walk anymore and was wrapped in a casualty blanket and secured onto a stretcher to carry off the moorland.

Members of Woodhead Mountain Rescue Team preparing to carry the rescued walker

Although a rescue helicopter had arrived at the location it was unable to land because of the difficult weather conditions meaning that the stretcher carry was left to the 18 volunteer team members.

This was made treacherously slippy by the fast falling snow and took a real team effort to carry the stretcher to the road head where the ambulance was waiting.

John Halstead, Woodhead Mountain Rescue Team incident controller, said: “This was a real case of life or death. If the alarm had not been raised the situation could have easily been a lot worse.”