The northern Howgills near Intake

A major search involving seven mountain rescue teams and handlers from the Search and Rescue Dogs Association ended when a missing man walked off the fell unharmed to greet rescuers at their vehicle.

Kirkby Stephen Mountain Rescue Team was alerted yesterday evening when a man failed to return from the Howgill Fells after going to lay an aniseed trail for hounds.

The 59-year-old had gone on to the fells south-east of Tebay and phoned in to say he was lost.

Members of the Kendal Mountain Rescue Team then joined their Kirkby Stephen colleagues in the hunt for the man, who had set off for the hills about 4pm.

Conditions on the fells were wet, windy and generally miserable according to rescuers.

Further help was requested and volunteers from the Cave Rescue Organisation, Teesdale and Weardale, Duddon and Furness and Swaledale teams joined the Kendal and Kirby Lonsdale rescuers in the search for the man throughout the night. Sarda members and their dogs brought the total of searchers to about 70.

The man eventually made his own way off the fells, unharmed but cold and wet, to meet rescuers south of Gaisgill.

A spokesperson for the Cave Rescue Organisation said: “Soon after CRO search teams had been deployed onto the hill the missing man walked down to a CRO vehicle at Intake, none the worse for his experience.”

• Three members of the Kendal team not involved in the Howgills search were paged by police at 10.50pm to look for a missing man in their home town. They were joined by 10 colleagues from the Langdale and Ambleside Mountain Rescue Team and searched for more than 3½ hours without success before being stood down.