EMERGENCY services staged a dramatic rescue on a river after a teenager fell over a 30ft cliff.

It is believed the 15-year-old boy had been jumping off rocks into the River Swale at Richmond, North Yorkshire, when the accident happened yesterday afternoon.

Rescue services who attended the incident on a stretch of the river known locally as The Falls last night told of their horror at seeing youths continuing to jump off the cliffs moments after the rescue ended.

The youth, from the Richmond area, was one of several teenagers who had been jumping off the cliffs into a deep pool by a waterfall.

It is believed he slipped before jumping and hit rocks at the bottom of the cliff.

Rescuers had to transport him across the river in an inflatable dinghy in order to get him to hospital.

He suffered serious multiple injuries and was yesterday evening described by police as extremely poorly.

Barrie Proctor, who runs a refreshment stall at The Falls, said: "It's been an accident waiting to happen, they've been jumping off the top of that cliff for a very, very long time.

"It's a bit late in the season now, but in the middle of the summer there's loads of them doing it."

One man who saw the rescue but did not wish to be named, said: "He hit the rocks at the bottom and fell into the water, and his friends pulled him back up on to the rocks.

"A woman came over and started doing first aid.

"Eventually they got a dinghy and floated him back across the river."

The rescue was carried out by the ambulance and fire services with the assistance of Swaledale Mountain Rescue Team, which was led at the scene by Tim Cain.

He said: "It was amazing that immediately after the incident the practice was continued by young people who must have been aware of what had just happened."

A spokesman for North Yorkshire Police said: "The indications are that being wet he slipped on the rocks and fell, and we aren't considering the incident as being at all suspicious.

"He was taken by ambulance to Darlington Memorial Hospital, where he is described by accident and emergency as being extremely poorly."

Last night, the teenager was transferred to the James Cook Hospital, in Middlesbrough.