RESCUERS attended to a woman with a suspected ankle fracture on a Lake District fell yesterday.

Coniston Mountain Rescue Team (CMRT) was called out to the incident just below the summit of the Old Man of Coniston at around 1pm.

A CMRT spokesman said: “The weather was partly cloudy, in contrast to the weeks of clear blue skies that we have been having recently.

“Covid-19 procedures were carried out and the minimum number of team members required gathered at base to be briefed.

“The team then made their way to the casualty where she was assessed and placed onto a stretcher before being carried down to the Fell Gate car park for onward transfer to hospital by her friends.”

The spokesman said it was the first time a newly-developed ‘virus shield’, which partially encloses the head of the stretcher, had been deployed by the team.

He said the incident required 13 team members and lasted around 3.5 hours which was ‘considerably longer than normal’ due to the restrictions which coronavirus placed on the team.