A woman has been injured after falling from a horse while riding along the west Dorset coast.

Emergency services were called to East Bexington shortly before 8pm on Monday to reports a 53-year-old woman had fallen and injured her pelvis.

West Bay Coastguard Rescue Team was paged by Solent Coastguard NMOC (National Maritime Operations Centre) following a request from the ambulance service which needed assistance due to the location.

The woman had fallen in an area in between West Bexington and Abbotsbury popular with walkers and horse riders.

It is understood she shattered her hip in the fall.

Seven rescue officers from West Bay arrived to find the woman was in the care of the ambulance service. The officer in charge worked with paramedics to assess the best way of transporting her from the area to an ambulance as she had fallen in an area with only off-road access with limited methods of transportation.

Coastguard Rescue Helicopter 175, based at Solent, was scrambled to assist and West Bay officers secured a suitable night time landing site.

Once the helicopter landed nearby, the woman was transferred to the aircraft before being flown to Dorset County Hospital for onward care.

West Bay coastguards's flank team at Wyke was also paged and was standing by at the Dorchester landing site to meet the aircraft and assist with the casualties transfer to hospital.

A spokesman for West Bay CRT said: "We wish her a speedy and full recovery. When horse riding on the coast, make sure you are fully prepared by taking a fully charged mobile phone, adequate warm clothing, appropriate safety equipment and water.

"Using a free smartphone app like ‘OS Locate’ would also mean you could give an accurate grid reference to emergency services, drastically cutting down the time it takes for help to get to you. Stay safe on the coast, but if you find yourself in difficulty or if you are concerned for others, do not hesitate to dial 999 and ask for the coastguard."