A SPECIALIST team working in "challenging" conditions took two hours to carefully rescue a man dangling 20 feet over the side of cliffs near Tutshill.

The man, who is believed to be in his 50s, was found in his harness over the edge of the cliff near Ban-y-Gor Woods on Saturday afternoon..

The Great Western Ambulance Service was called out at 11.23am after a report that a man had fallen..

As the man had a suspected head injury and may also have had neck and spinal injury, the fire and rescue service was called..

The ambulance service's hazardous area response team (HART), a paramedic, a local first responder, an ambulance and a critical care crew in the Great Western air ambulance were on the scene..

The HART team reached him by climbing down a steep path and began assessing him..

The fire service received the call at noon from the specialist ambulance crew that the man was still in his harness and dangling from the cliff..

A team of nine cliff rescue specialists along with station commander Chris Martin attended the scene..

A spokesman for Gloucestershire Fire and Rescue said: "The Lydney rope rescue team was faced with a challenging cliff rescue and worked closely with the ambulance Hazardous Area Response Team..

"They put into place a well-practised rope rescue procedure to carry out a difficult rescue of the climber..

"Four rope-trained personnel had to be lowered down the cliff to reach the man, who had been injured in the fall, but was conscious and talking throughout the rescue..

"Fire-fighters had to secure him onto a stretcher and then winched him up to safety where ambulance crews were ready to assess his injuries and convey him to hospital by ambulance.".

The man was taken to Frenchay Hospital in Bristol in a road ambulance.