A paraglider was left just inches from plummeting 80 meters to near-certain death after crashing into a cliff near Eype - but was eventually hauled to safety by specialist coastguard officers.

HM Coastguard said they had received a call from a member of the public at around 5.50 pm on Sunday, saying that a paraglider had become lodged on a cliff at Thorncombe Beacon.

Video: MCA

Rescue teams from West Bay and Lyme Bay arrived to find the paraglider - a man in his late twenties - perched on a very narrow ledge about 60 meters down the 145m cliff-face, just east of the Beacon.

A coastguard helicopter from the Solent base meanwhile surveyed the scene from the air, but the teams decided that given the paraglider's precarious position, a rescue by rope was preferable to a rescue from the air.

A specialist coastguard rope rescue technician made his way down to the stranded paraglider and, after securing him into a rescue harness, the pair were winched to the top of the cliff. A second rope technician then descended to recover the paragliding equipment, which had become snagged on the cliff, along with the pilot's personal possessions.

The man was checked over by attending ambulance crews but suffered only minor cuts and bruises. He was discharged on the scene. The state of his paragliding equipment is not known.

Emma Stander said she had watched the rescue operation from beginning to end - and had spoken to the unnamed paraglider after his rescue.

"He said he felt fine, and that he couldn't wait to get back in the air again," Ms Stander, who had been staying at a nearby campsite, told the Echo.

The West Bay team said there had been 'an excellent outcome to a very precarious situation'. 

"This was a great example of the coastguard teams, a coastguard helicopter and other emergency services all working together to secure the casualty," a spokesman said.

If you see anyone in difficulty along the coast or at sea call 999 and ask for the coastguard.