SOUTH Cumbrian mountain rescuers on a training exercise in Scotland were called into action following the disappearance of a man in the Highlands.

Last weekend (January 26-28) members of the Duddon and Furness MRT travelled to Aberdeenshire to take part in a winter weather training exercise.

However, upon arrival they were mobilised alongside local MRTs in the search for a missing man. In spite of two days of searching the freezing landscape the body of a man was found on Sunday.

The team travelled up to Scotland on Friday (26), setting up camp in Braemar, roughly 50 miles west of Aberdeen.

The initial plan was to conduct cold weather training in the mountains around Glenshee to prepare team members for the harsh conditions faced in fells of Cumbria. But at 6am on the Saturday they were contacted by mountain rescue teams who had been searching for a man who had been missing since 2pm the previous day.

John Wealthall, of the DFMRT, said: "We went to Ballatar police station for a briefing at by the search

co-ordinator and were deployed in three separate teams.

"Once on the Glas-allt-Shiel plateau conditions deteriorated with very strong winds, with gusts later found to be up to 100mph blowing across making walking and searching challenging. There was also quite deep but soft snow on top which added to the difficulty in making progress."

Unfortunately no progress was made on the Saturday, and teams were forced to retire as night fell.

On the Sunday morning at 11am the sad news filtered through to the search teams a body had been found in a gully.

In spite of the tragic circumstances Mr Wealthall said it was an example of multiple agencies working in a coordinated operation.

He said: "On the positive side this was a great experience for the team and shows how all MRTs can work together, wherever they are from, and help support each other in the various mountain terrains that we have in this country.