A CUB leader sang scouting songs to keep her spirits up as she waited for rescue after breaking her leg falling down a ravine.

Anne Scott broke her leg in the accident which happened while she was walking with a group of Cub Scouts from Castleside, near Consett, in Slitt Wood, near Westgate, in Weardale, County Durham.

Rescuers found her singing with other leaders and the Cubs to stay cheerful while they waited for help.

Paramedics and a fire crew from Stanhope were supported by members of the Teesdale and Weardale Fell Rescue team, who were called from an exercise at High Force in Teesdale.

Mrs Scott was carried 200 metres out of the ravine to an open patch of ground near Slitt Dam, where a helicopter from the Great North Air Ambulance was able to land and fly her to the University Hospital of North Durham.

Steve Owers, of the Fell Rescue group, said: "The group was fine. It was just a simple accident.

"They were properly equipped and had mobile phones, but there was no signal and they had to walk to nearby houses to raise the alarm.

"They did exactly the right thing. They were all singing to keep their spirits up when we arrived.

"The lady was conscious and in pain but we were able to carry her out. It was a good example of all the emergency services working together."

Alf Addison, group Scout master for the 1st Castleside Scouts, said the Cubs had been on a weekend camp with another group of Cub Scouts from Wigton, Cumbria, at Durham County Council's outdoor activities centre, in the old Westgate school.

He said yesterday: "Mrs Scott is an experienced leader and so is the leader from Wigton. They would have tried to keep the children's spirits up.

"The group are back safely. They were due to come back this afternoon anyway so they were just a little early."