THE volunteers from local search and Mountain Rescue teams have been kept busy over the Christmas period.

On Monday, December 28, the Forestry commission were alerted to a man who had slipped and injured his ankle while walking in Hamsterley forest, they contacted police who in turn contacted the ambulance service.

The Teesdale and Weardale team located and extracted the man and took him to the visitor centre.

There he was met by relatives, who took him to hospital to get checked out.

On the Wednesday, December 30, the team were called by NEAS (North East Ambulance Service) to a male who had fallen while walking with his wife and dog on the fells above Stanhope.

The man, from Washington, had suffered a significant lower leg injury.

The casualty was over a mile from the nearest road.

The injured man, was treated by the team's doctor then transported down to the road where he was transferred to a waiting Ambulance.

It was later discovered the man had fractured his fibula and is now awaiting surgery.