A GRIEVING daughter has paid tribute to her father after his death in a fall on a Lake District mountain - and she thanked the people who tried to help him, including a brave young couple.

Retired social worker Brian Guilfoyle, 80, had a lifelong love of mountaineering.

He fell while walking with friends on Sharp Edge, Blencathra, on Wednesday, August 28.

Other walkers who were on the mountain as well as Keswick Mountain Rescue Team and a doctor from the Great North Air ambulance battled to reach and help Mr Guilfoyle, who was given CPR resuscitation.

But he could not be saved.

After the tragedy, his heartbroken daughter Louise Guilfoyle Hastewell, from Penwortham, Preston, said she wanted to thank everybody who tried to help - including her father's friend Steve Smith, who was part of his walking group, and a brave young couple who risked their lives by clambering down the mountain to reach the pensioner after his fall.

She said: ''I want to thank everyone - including the young couple who put their lives at risk to help my dad.

"It can't have been an easy thing to do. They tried to revive dad but couldn't. I also want to thank the mountain rescue team and the air ambulance staff."

She went on to pay tribute to her father.

"He was a larger than life character," she said.

"He was really good fun, and a highly intelligent man, with a sharp wit. He had been a member of the Lancaster Mountaineering Club for more than 50 years.

"He absolutely loved the lakes. He was always a passionate climber; climbing was his life."

In an emotional Facebook post, Louise said that she and her two adult children - Rowney, 23, and Eva, 18, wanted to thank from the bottom of their hearts all those people who tried to help her father, from Leyland, Lancashire.

People who attend his funeral service have been asked to make a donation to Keswick Mountain Rescue Team in lieu of flowers.