FISHGUARD paramedics and the Air Ambulance were on the scene in double quick time after a Nottingham man badly injured his ankle in a fall during a coaststeering accident near St Davids on Sunday morning.

Geoffrey Deekin, aged 34, from Minster Crescent, Clifton, Nottingham, who was with his brother and an instructor from Twr-y-Felin Activity Centre, sustained his injury in a jump onto rocks at the bottom of a 90-foot cliff at Craters, near St Nons. His companions managed to get him to the clifftop and the instructor contacted the emergency services from St Nons Retreat.

St Davids Coastguard response team was rerouted from a training exercise to help the ambulancemen and Station Officer Tony Pearce said: The ambulance and Air Ambulance crews deserve the highest praise for their prompt response and professionalism on the job. Ambulance technician Gareth Davies and paramedic Gareth Griffiths from Fishguard were on the scene within minutes and so was the Air Ambulance.

A Coastguard spokesman expressed surprise that the coaststeering party carried neither a mobile phone nor a radio with a consequent delay in reaching a telephone.

Mr Deekin was airlifted by Air Ambulance to Withybush Hospital, Haverfordwest, for casualty treatment for a severe ankle injury.