A CLIMBER was rescued after falling 49ft down a cliff at a beauty spot near Chepstow.

Abergavenny’s Longtown Mountain Rescue Team were called on Sunday at around 2pm to Wyndcliff Wood between Chepstow and Tintern after a 56-year-old man fell while climbing.

The man, from Sleaford, in Lincolnshire was an experienced climber and had been with a companion when he fell between 10 to 15 metres down a cliff near the popular 365 steps walk.

He suffered a dislocated shoulder with fractions as well as broken ribs and was taken by a land ambulance to the Royal Gwent Hospital.

Longtown MRT were joined by members from Central Beacons Mountain Rescue Team and Brecon Mountain Rescue Team in the two and a half hour rescue.

During the rescue, the teams had to lower the stretcher by hand and ropes and weave it through dense woodland.

Traffic then had to be held up on the A466 so the stretcher could be carried along the road to a waiting ambulance.

Luke Lewis, deputy team leader from Longtown MRT, said: “The casualty was half way up a tree-lined cliff which meant it was a tricky rescue but that’s what our members train for.

“This call out showed the importance of the continuing close cooperation between the mountain rescue teams in south and mid Wales.

“The RAF Search and Rescue Helicopters and the Wales Air Ambulance play a vital role in saving lives but cannot always reach a casualty due to ground or weather conditions.”

A Welsh Ambulance Service spokesperson, said: “We were called at 14.29hrs on Sunday, September 28 to an incident at Wyndcliff Forest.

“We attended with an emergency ambulance and a male casualty who had suffered multiple serious injuries was conveyed to the Royal Gwent Hospital.”