A woman on a charity walk around the UK has been at the centre of a dramtic rescue after falling from a cliff.

Cowes RNLI lifeboat was called out last night to assist in the rescue of the woman who had been seriously injured from a fall in a steeply wooded area overlooking East Cowes seafront.

The woman is understood to be undertaking a walk around England in aid of the Help the Heroes charity.

She fell heavily at around 3 pm near Old Castle Point.

But it was not until the evening when someone heard her cries for help that emergency services were alerted.

First to climb to her aid were crew members of an ambulance and Ventnor mobile Coastguards.

But because of the difficult terrain – the spot was beyond the seafront cliff fall – it was decided the local lifeboat should be summoned to carry her to a more suitable location to reach an ambulance.

The lifeboat, launched at 8.48 pm, was soon on the scene and the crew found the woman was in considerable pain from hip, neck and back injuries.

Together with a paramedic and a coastguard, the woman was then taken by the lifeboat to the Gridiron landing stage, East Cowes, where she was stretched to an ambulance which took her to St Mary’s Hospital.

Cowes lifeboat returned to station at 9.41 pm.