A TEENAGER who had to be rescued by emergency services after falling down a 15ft embankment in Shotley Bridge, County Durham, suffered suspected spinal injuries.

The police and specialist hazardous rescue teams from the fire and ambulance service were called to a wooded area outside the village shortly after 5am on Saturday, following reports that a young man had fallen and hurt himself.

The casualty, who is in his late teens and from Delves Lane, near Consett, was complaining of a bad back and loss of feeling in his legs. He is now being treated at the Royal Victoria Infirmary in Newcastle.

Group manager Steve Wharton, of County Durham Fire and Rescue, said the nature of the injuries combined with the thick undergrowth and lack of light at the scene had required the rescue teams to work slowly and carefully.

“Our high line rescue team from Consett worked alongside the ambulance service’s Hazardous Area Response Team,” he said.

“They are both specially trained to work in such conditions and were able to lower a firefighter and a paramedic down to the incident to assess the casualty.

“He had hurt his back and had a loss of feeling in his legs. It could have been heavy bruising but, at that stage, we had to think the worst.”

Paramedics stabilised the casualty and raised him up the embankment on a specialist stretcher for people with spinal injuries.

The whole rescue operation took around one hour.

“The two teams worked extremely well together,” said Mr Wharton. “The fact we are able to stabalise the casualty at the scene meant we were able to take our time with the rescue and do it properly.”

A spokesperson from Durham Police said the accident is thought to have occurred when the man was helping a friend, who also fell down the embankment but escaped uninjured.

Do you know the victim? Email newsdesk@nne.co.uk