An injured man has been rescued from the cliffs at Arbroath after his fall sparked a major emergency response.
Two lifeboat crews, three coastguard teams, a rescue helicopter, police and paramedics rushed to the scene at Seaton shortly before 5pm on Sunday.
An eyewitness saw a “large emergency presence in the area” with coastguard officers and police searching cliffs with the help of the aircraft.
A coastguard spokesperson told The Courier a man was rescued and passed into the care of paramedics.
Helicopter assists in search for man
He said: “We received the alarm at 4.56pm on Sunday to concern for a man who had fallen and was injured on cliffs close to Arbroath.
“Two RNLI crews manning both the all-weather vessel and the inshore craft were deployed from Arbroath station.
“Coastguard teams form Arbroath and Dundee, as well as a third from Stonehaven, were also despatched to the scene.
“A Scottish coastguard helicopter also assisted in the search for the individual.
“A man was located at the scene and, once lifted to safety, was handed over to members of the Scottish Ambulance Service and taken to hospital for further treatment.
“Coastguard teams were eventually stood down at 7.06pm.”
It is understood the man’s injuries were not life-threatening.
Commenting after the rescue a social media post by Arbroath RNLI said: “Both of Arbroath lifeboats were called into action on 23 January to support our colleagues at HM Coastguard from Angus & Dundee with a tricky cliff rescue.
Cliff rescue
“The casualty had become crag fast in a precarious position near the top of a cliff at Dickmonts Den.
“Thought to have been holding on for nearly two hours in dark, cold and windy conditions, the casualty was struggling to keep their grip on the cliff.
“Coastguard helicopter – Rescue 151 – had been tasked, however, it was feared their down draft could be too much for the casualty to handle.
“Meanwhile, Coastguard rope rescue technicians had been setting up, ready to deploy over the cliff edge.
“The Coastguard team committed a technician over the cliff edge and successfully secured the casualty and extracted them to safe ground at the cliff top.
“The casualty was taken by ambulance to hospital as a precaution.
A Police Scotland spokesperson said: “Officers received a call that a man was stuck on Arbroath cliffs at 4.50pm on Sunday.
“Emergency services attended and the man was rescued and taken to Ninewells Hospital for treatment.”
