The injured youth's uncle used the sound of the Coastguard helicopter to guide rescuers

Rescuers were guided by flares and the sound of a helicopter to an injured boy on a remote Orkney cliff.

The 15-year-old was stranded after twisting his leg and becoming semi-conscious on cliffs in the Bay of Tongue, north-east of Hoy. Thick fog hampered rescuers from pinpointing the boy’s position.

He had been given first aid and wrapped in a blanket by his uncle and his sister after twisting his shinbone. Members of the Hoy and Stromness Coastguard Rescue Teams were joined by the Stromness lifeboat and the Coastguard helicopter in the search for the group, about 6pm today.

Martin Sykes, Duty Watch Manager at Shetland Coastguard said: “This was a difficult and challenging rescue. The Stromness team was flown to the approximate location by helicopter, and we were able to ask the lad’s uncle by mobile phone to wave a lamp in the fog to try and attract attention both from the seaward side and the lifeboat, and from the air by helicopter.

“Using his mobile phone he was able to describe the sound of the helicopter as being louder or softer, as the group was unsure of their own exact position.

“The teams put on the ground locally also used whistles and the first informant was able to describe how close and in what position he could hear the sound, to try and help the Coastguards locate him.

“The lifeboat crew also set off a flare in an effort to identify how close they were to the group of three and to provide and additional point of light by which the uncle could get a bearing. The helicopter swept over the lifeboat once the uncle could recognise how close or far he was from the sound and light which he could vaguely hear and see.

“A second group of Coastguards were also dropped at the top of a gully in order to sweep the area and find the group.

“Fortunately using a mix of all of these methods, by 8.15 this evening the group of three had been located and the boy was immediately airlifted to hospital at Kirkwall.

“Once delivered safely into the accident and emergency department, the helicopter returned, after refuelling at Kirkwall, to pick up the Coastguard teams as the weather remained very challenging to the rescuers.

“I would like to thank everyone who turned out this evening in very difficult circumstances and who worked together with tremendous team effort and with ultimate success.”