A WALKER who repeatedly fainted on the way back down from Whernside in the Yorkshire Dales was carried back down the mountain by fell rescue volunteers.

The 19-year-old's boyfriend called 999 for help as it was beginning to get dark and the weather on the highest of the Yorkshire Three Peaks on the descent towards Bruntscar was deteriorating.

A spokesperson for the Clapham-based Cave Rescue Organisation said: " They had huddled down and she was in a plastic bivvi bag, to keep warm.

"Their position was just off the summit ridge on the descent path.

"A full team of 15 members set off to find and recover them in horrendous rain and reducing clag (fog, or low lying cloud).

"They were found, quickly, and the casualty was seen to be in a semi-conscious state. She was assessed and ‘packaged’, then sledged rapidly down the hill-side on a Bell stretcher and carried to the Yorkshire Ambulance Service) road ambulance, waiting near Bruntscar.

"Her worried boyfriend was able to walk down, un-aided."