A man fell 15 meters into the hole in Cornwall Cliff after the ground collapsed

A man stranded on a cliff in Cornwall has been rescued after ‘falling down a hole’. The man was walking on a ‘fisherman’s path’ in Falmouth, between Maenporth and Swanpool, when the path collapsed beneath him, sending him falling 15ft into a hole.

Falmouth coastguard said he was caught on the rock in the underbrush. He called the Coast Guard and crews, with the help of a search and rescue helicopter, found him and were able to reach him over rough terrain.

Falmouth Coastguard said in a statement: “Once the victim was located, the rest of the team brought our rescue equipment to the scene, approximately 300 meters in extremely difficult terrain. The rope rescue equipment was installed in an extremely confined work area and a specialist. The rope rescue technician was sent through very thick brush and managed to secure the victim in our rescue sling and both were recovered by the rest of the team at the top of the cliff.”

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The Coast Guard said he suffered some “chips and scratches” but was otherwise uninjured. Falmouth coastguard added: “He had been walking on a ‘fisherman’s path’ and the path collapsed beneath him. He fell into the hole (pictured) about 15 feet and was caught on the rock in the brush.

“He was able to call the Coast Guard for help on his own cell phone. Despite the poor signal in the area, he was able to call 999 and speak to MRCC Falmouth. Many thanks to Falmouth Golf Club for access. Much appreciated. your help gets us to the scene.”

It came at the end of a busy few days for the service, which has attended five notices in as many days. These included two reports of people in the water on Saturday 29 June, a person collapsed on Arthurs Beach in Falmouth on Wednesday 26 June and reports of a person/dog in distress at Admirals Quay.