By Craig Smith

A YOUNG teenager sparked a complex air, land and sea rescue operation on the Fife coast yesterday afternoon after falling down cliffs near Earlsferry.

The 13-year-old boy, who is believed to be from Musselburgh, had been enjoying a walk in the sunshine with his father and friends.

However, shortly after 1pm the youngster plunged around 20ft down the rocks near Kincraig Point, leaving him stranded on a cliff ledge 12ft above sea level, with the tide continuing to rise.

Coastguard crews from Leven, Kinghorn, St Andrews and Granton were all mobilised, while one of the boy’s friends called for ambulance assistance.

Although paramedics were able to reach the stricken youth to stabilise him, the tide was too high and the terrain too rough for the emergency service vehicles to successfully carry out a land or sea rescue.

A Royal Navy helicopter was scrambled from Prestwick to airlift the boy to safety.

He was taken to Edinburgh Royal Infirmary with serious leg, back and arm injuries, although his injuries are not life threatening.

It is understood the group were walking on an area of the Fife Coastal Path known locally as the Chain Walk, which allows access to the cliffs, several caves and other coastal features.

While many local people walk the route regularly, walkers usually need to wear sturdy footwear and be wary of the tide, otherwise they can be trapped by the sea.

A spokesman for Forth Coastguard last night admitted that the youngster had had a lucky escape.

“The ambulance team on site managed to get down and stabilise him but the area was too rocky to either stretcher him out or take him off the cliffs by lifeboat,” he explained.

“It was a complicated rescue so it was necessary to call in the Royal Navy rescue helicopter so the boy could be airlifted to hospital.”

A spokesman for Kinghorn lifeboat added that its crew members had set off a flare to indicate to the helicopter crew exactly where the boy was lying on the cliffs.

By the time the rescue had been completed, around two hours after it began, the paramedics had themselves become cut off by the tide, with the Kinghorn crew on hand to ferry them safely to another part of the coastline.