The woman walked off the summit into Coire Eòghainn. Photo: Blisco CC-BY-SA-3.0

A walker had to be rescued from Britain’s highest mountain after straying on to steep ground when she left the summit.

Lochaber Mountain Rescue Team was alerted this evening after the woman got stuck on steep crags in Coire Eòghainn on the south side of the 1,344m (4,409ft) mountain.

The team described her as a novice walker, who managed to walk straight off the summit into the corrie and became cragfast. “A classic mistake in poor weather,” a spokesperson said.

A Royal Navy Sea King search and rescue helicopter from HMS Gannet in Ayrshire flew to the scene to aid the rescue team. The spokesperson said: “The person was lifted off her precarious position to safety and returned to Lochaber Mountain Rescue Team base.”

The team was in action earlier today after a walker was injured in a fall from the Carn Mòr Dearg Arête, the ridge linking Ben Nevis’s summit plateau and the neighbouring 1,200m (3,937ft) peak.

A Sea King helicopter from RAF Lossiemouth flew to the site and the injured walker was airlifted from the mountain to Belford Hospital, Fort William, for further treatment.