Pen-y-Fan. Photo: afcone CC-BY-ND-2.0

A couple lost on south Wales’s highest mountain were found after rescuers got them to download an application to their smartphone.

The couple, from Somerset and who were on holiday in the area, set off at lunchtime for a walk up Pen y Fan which they thought would take an hour and a half.

But the pair, in their 20s, got lost and darkness fell on the 886m (2,907ft) peak, leaving the walkers, who had no map, compass or torch, stranded and unable to find their way down.

After they rang for help, members of Central Beacons Mountain Rescue Team went to the couple’s aid.

Two CBMRT members set off as first responders from the Neuadd pumphouse, next to the Neuadd Reservoir, and headed on to the Neuadd Ridge.

Meanwhile, Brecon Mountain Rescue Team, which was assisting in the incident, helped the walkers download an app to their iPhone to enable the team to pinpoint their location.

Brecon MRT deputy team leader Mark Jones said: “The couple were exhausted and very worried. It was dark and they didn’t know where they were.

“We were able to help them download OS Converter, an app that gives you your grid reference. That told us exactly where they were so we could find them on the mountain.”

Members of the Central Beacons MRT walked the couple to safety.

Mr Jones said that thanks to the app, the rescue took three and a half hours rather than being a major all-night search operation, as the couple were more than a mile away from where they thought they might be.

He added: “Technology saved us all a night on the mountain, but it can never take the place of a traditional map and compass and being properly prepared.”