Coastguard teams were called to assist a man who had slipped on coast path in west Dorset.

The whole team of West Bay Coastguard was paged on Friday afternoon by Solent Coastguard NMOC (National Maritime Operations Centre) to reports of a 67-year-old male who had slipped and fallen, sustaining a leg injury on an inland path somewhere between Seatown and Golden Cap.

At the time of the fall, the casualty's wife did not have a phone signal, so she had no choice but to leave her husband and continue walking to Seatown to raise the alarm at a local pub before returning to her husband.

Four rescue officers from West Bay including the teams deputy station officer quickly responded to the station, picked up their equipment and the teams coastguard rescue vehicle then headed for Seatown.

As the exact location of the casualty was unknown, the West Bay deputy station officer immediately requested backup from its team at Lyme Regis, so that an additional coastguard rescue vehicle and manpower could be sent in case a search or an extended stretcher carry was required.

Once on scene at Seatown, the West Bay officers located a parked ambulance without it's crew. Two officers were sent up a nearby footpath in the direction of Golden Cap to see if they could locate the casualty.

The remaining officers in the vehicle consulted local maps and headed off-road to try and get the vehicle into a suitable overwatch position to keep an eye on the deployed officers and provide a comms relay.

The Lyme Regis vehicle and backup officers joined the West Bay vehicle off-road. Shortly after, the officers on foot radioed that they had located the casualty on the footpath along with the ambulance crew who were treating him.

Solent Coastguard was updated and the Lyme vehicle started exploring off-road to try and find a route through to the casualty which was established shortly after. The West Bay vehicle then re-positioned to the casualty site.

The casualty was declared stable to travel by the paramedic and with help from the coastguard officers, the casualty was assisted into the Lyme vehicle for the drive back down to the waiting ambulance at Seatown.

The casualty was then left in the expert care of the South Western Ambulance Service.

A spokesman for West Bay Coastguard said: "We wish him a full and speedy recovery."