Rescuers stretcher the walker from Ullock Pike. Photo: Keswick MRT

Two Lakeland walkers were rescued after suffering ankle injuries in separate incidents over the weekend.

Keswick Mountain Rescue Team was called out to the first incident on Saturday, when a woman slipped while descending Ullock Pike.

The team was alerted at 3.40pm.

A team spokesperson said the walker was with a well equipped group. “She tried to walk a short distance but found it extremely difficult and painful.

“They sought shelter from the wind and called for help. Some kind passers-by provided a group shelter to protect from the cold wind. The casualty and her husband were located by the team near Kiln Potts on Ullock Pike ridge.

“The casualty’s ankle was examined and splinted before she was loaded onto the stretcher for a carry and sled back to the road below from where the couple made their own way to Cumberland Infirmary in Carlisle for an x-ray.”

The rescue lasted just over 2½ hours and involved 18 Keswick MRT volunteers.

The team manoeuvres the stretcher down the steep path at Sourmilk Gill. Photo: Keswick MRT

The following day the team was called out again to a walker with an injured ankle.

The spokesperson said two people had just reached the top of the steep path alongside Sourmilk Gill above Seathwaite, heading for Green Gable.

“The female slipped on a smooth wet rocky slab and went over badly on her ankle. She was unable to weight-bear so the team were alerted eventually from the phone box in the valley.”

Rescuers were alerted shortly after 10am.

At the scene, a team doctor assessed the woman’s ankle and gave her pain relief before splinting the leg and placing her into a stretcher for a difficult carry down the steep path.

The spokesperson said: “The descent was difficult and slow but controlled using a combination of manpower and rigging from rocks and trees to safeguard the casualty.

“At the bottom she was transferred to a waiting ambulance which took her to Carlisle for treatment.”

Sixteen team members were involved in the incident, which lasted just over three hours.