A man was winched to safety today after spending two days stranded in an area of gorse bushes 10ft deep, the RAF said.

The 32-year-old could not remember how he came to be trapped in the dense undergrowth on a cliff face at Primrose Valley in Filey, North Yorkshire.

He attracted the attention of a member of the public this morning with a cigarette lighter after being trapped in the middle of the gorse bushes since Sunday morning.

A search and rescue helicopter from RAF Leconfield was scrambled shortly before 5am to bring him to safety.

The man, from Hunmanby, North Yorkshire, was suffering from mild hypothermia and dehydration and was taken to Scarborough Hospital for treatment.

Sergeant Colin Yorke, who winched the man to safety, said: ''The man was in a patch of gorse bush 10 foot deep.

''We've no idea how he got there. He was right in the middle of the gorse. It was like he had been dropped there by a spaceship.''

Mr Yorke, 38, who has 21 years' service with the RAF and moved to Leconfield around three and a half years ago, said: ''It was certainly one of our stranger rescues.

''The man was a well-known local character. He had been out on Saturday night consuming various substances and had no idea how he had got there.

''He couldn't feel himself from the waist down because he hadn't moved for two days. He was out of it really.

''When we arrived we could just see this hand poking out above the top of the gorse.

''Luckily there was a small hole in the bushes so I could be winched down and get this guy out.''

A North Yorkshire Police spokesman said: ''At 0350 this morning a lady called to say there was a man stuck in the bushes close to a cliff.

''The lady who called said he had been there for several hours, but could not give a reason as to why he could not get out.

''Police and ambulance attended and it emerged that he had been there for several hours. The fire service and Coastguard were called, who requested the help of a helicopter from RAF Leconfield.

''At around 0530 this morning he was winched to safety. He was a 32-year-old man who had been stuck there since Sunday. ''He said he had lost his mountain bike somewhere in the area.''