Vulnerable 83-year-old man found seriously injured lying in Staithes Beck

Team members from Whitby Coastguard, Staithes Coastguard, Redcar Coastguard Rescue Team, Staithes & Runswick RNLI, Cleveland Police, Yorkshire Air Ambulance, Cleveland Mountain Rescue Team, North Yorkshire Police, Humber Coastguard and Senior Coastal Operations Officer S5C, were tasked in the search for the missing person.

The search lasted for three-and-a-half hours, beginning at 4pm and the 83-year-old was finally located at 7.30pm, on Tuesday April 30.

He had fallen about ten metres down a steep riverbank and was lying, seriously injured, in Staithes Beck.

The man was treated at the scene by a local doctor and some of the search volunteers before being carried the 100 metres or so to a waiting ambulance which transported him to a helicopter from Yorkshire Air Ambulance for the journey to James Cook University Hospital for treatment.

All the tracks along the cliffs were searched as well as the paths through the surrounding woodland before the man was spotted by a member of the public who notified the emergency services.