An emergency rescue was carried out in Montrose after a hiker sustained a leg injury after falling down Elephant Rock.
The coastguard was called to Elephant Rock at around 1pm on Saturday after a man had stumbled between ten to 20 feet from the cliff.
The fall resulted in the man sustaining a leg injury, meaning he had no way of getting back to safety.
Dramatic rescue two hour rescue
Montrose RNLI life boat were deployed to the scene at 1.20pm to help rescue the hiker.
The volunteer life boat crew assisted in hoisting the man into the UK coastguard helicopter at the base of the cliff.
The man was then airlifted to a nearby field around two hours later – due to the difficulty of the location – and transferred to the Scottish Ambulance Service.
The extent of the man’s injuries are not yet known.
A spokesperson for the UK Coastguard said: “We received a call at around 1pm about a walker who had stumbled ten or 20 feet down Elephant Rock and needed help getting back up.
“We had the coastguard helicopter from Inverness, Montrose lifeboats along with Montrose, Stonehaven and Dundee coastguard team.
“The male casualty was lifted up by helicopter at around 3pm and then transferred to road ambulance.
“The helicopter was required to lift him up from the bottom of the cliff to the road as he had sustained a leg injury.”
Lifeboat crew diverted from training flight
A spokesperson for Montrose RNLI said: “At 13.20pm Montrose Lifeboat and ILB (inshore lifeboats) were requested to launch by UK Coastguard.
“The boats were tasked with assisting with recovering a person that had fallen and injured themselves at elephant rock.
“Upon arrival the ILB put two crew ashore to assist the local coastguard teams.
“It was apparent that a helicopter would have been the best choice to evacuate the casualty.
“Rescue 151 was diverted from a training flight to assist.
“Once on scene rescue 151 hoisted the casualty into the helicopter and then landed in a near by field to transfer the casualty to a waiting ambulance.
“Montrose Lifeboat and ILB were stood down and returned to station at approximately 15.45pm when both boats were made ready again.”
The Scottish Ambulance Service have been approached for comment.
