TWO women who went missing in the Lake District have been rescued by an RAF search helicopter.

They were found on Tuesday afternoon after the pair, aged 39 and 37, had been missing since 4.30 pm on Monday when one of them contacted the police to say they had become disorientated in mist in the Scafell area and she had injured her ankle.

Keswick Mountain Rescue Team mounted a search. But when they failed to locate the women, volunteers from Langdale and Ambleside and Wasdale Mountain Rescue Teams were called in to assist.

The search was called off at 2am but resumed this morning when 80 volunteers combed the fells with search dogs assisted by RAF search helicopters from RAF Boulmer and Valley.

Both women, who live at Morecambe, were found following a stream in the Hard Knott Pass area at 12.30pm. They were taken by RAF helicopter to the Cumberland Infirmary, Carlisle, where they were both suffering from mild hypothermia.

Police said that conditions on the fells overnight had been bad with gusts of wind and flurries of snow.

The women had been holidaying in the area and had left their car at Seathwaite.