A MAN was seriously ill in hospital today after surviving a 70 feet fall down a ravine and four hours spent lying stranded in a freezing stream.

Derek Porter, of Franklin Road, Blackburn, was out hunting rabbits when he fell down the steep gully on land at Madgell Bank Farm, Ribchester Road, Clayton-le-Dale.

Today he was said to be "poorly but stable" on the medical assessment ward at Blackburn Royal Infirmary.

Paramedics and firefighters winched the casualty up the slope on a stretcher after stabilising his condition.

Mr Porter was admitted to Blackburn Royal Infirmary's casualty department suffering from the affects of the cold and minor abrasions. An ambulance service spokesman said the casualty was showing signs of hypothermia and was quite distressed although otherwise not badly injured.

A family friend who agreed to sit with Mr Porter's daughter said there was very little she could reveal about the accident.

Mr Porter's son, who travelled from Leeds to be with him, said he did not wish to comment on the accident.

He said: "It is a very difficult time for the family. My mother is at the hospital with him and I wouldn't wish to say anything without speaking to her first.

"We know very little about what has happened." Emergency crews were sent to the scene at 7pm on Saturday after a report that a man, believed to be in his late sixties, had fallen some 70 to 80 feet down the bank.

Mr Porter had left home alone early on Saturday morning.

Two fire engines from Blackburn and an incident support unit from Accrington joined an ambulance and a doctor in the operation.

A fire service spokesman said: "Once the medical teams had stabilised him, we used rescue lines and a stretcher to haul him up the banking.

"We also set up safety lines so that the medics could safely descend into the gully."

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