The man fell at the 'bad step' on Striding Edge. Photo: Bob Smith Photography

A man has died after falling more than 300ft from Striding Edge on Helvellyn.

Police alerted Patterdale Mountain Rescue Team to the incident about 11.35am on Sunday.

Cumbria Constabulary had received numerous calls reporting a man had fallen from the ridge.

A Patterdale MRT spokesperson said: “The duty leader quickly established that the gentleman had fallen approximately 100m in the area of the ‘bad step’ on the Red Tarn side of the ridge, likely sustaining serious injuries.

“Because the team had just finished their Sunday training and were still located in Patterdale, a request for a Coastguard search and rescue helicopter was initiated to enable winching direct to the scene. The [Great North Air Ambulance Service] aircraft was also mobilised due to the seriousness of the incident.

“The air ambulance was able to land at Red Tarn and their doctor and paramedic made their way on foot to the scene, followed soon after by team members.

“Sadly, due to the length of his fall, the injuries sustained and despite medical attention, the gentleman tragically died at scene.”

Team members carried the man to Red Tarn outlet, from where the air ambulance flew him down to Patterdale.

The spokesperson said: “The Coastguard helicopter, despite attending, was unfortunately unable to assist due to the weather conditions.

“Our thanks again to the Coastguard and also GNAAS for their assistance, especially saving the team a long carry out in extreme heat and meaning that they were able to respond to a second incident later in the day.

“Patterdale MRT would like to pass on our condolences to the gentleman’s family and friends.”

The incident lasted about five hours and involved 16 volunteers from Patterdale MRT.

The same day, the team received reports that a paraglider might have crashed after taking off from the summit of Place Fell.

The spokesperson said: “The paraglider had been witnessed possibly losing control a couple of times then plummet to the ground.

“The area he had come down was quite extensive on the side of Place Fell. Therefore a Coastguard search and rescue helicopter was requested to enable a detailed search from the air. After searching by team members on foot and the helicopter by air it proved a negative result.

“After speaking to different witnesses who came forward it was established that the paraglider in question could have been in the valley bottom when they thought he had crashed and as this area had been searched the incident was stood down.

“While team members were still at the base the paraglider, who had by now heard what was going on, called in to speak to us. He was fine and explained that he does speed flying which is a lot faster than normal paragliding and can look to bystanders out of control at times.

“He had flown four times that day from the summit and on the last flight this was when the witnesses thought he had crashed..”

Fifteen Patterdale volunteers were involved in the incident for about two hours.