A MAN was taken to hospital last night after falling from a footbridge some 60 feet into a ravine below.

Police, ambulance and fire crews worked together to help haul the man, who was aged between 20 and 30, back up the steep bank.

The alarm was raised shortly after 10pm last night after reports that a man had fallen from a footbridge in St Giles Close in Gilesgate, near Durham City.

Two fire crews from Durham and a special rescue unit from Bishop Auckland responded.

Durham watch manager, Gary Bankhead, said ambulance personnel were already at the scene and had located the man and were providing first aid.

"He had fallen 60 feet from the bridge and landed in quite a steep ravine," he said.

The firefighters set up a number of lines to help lift the casualty, who was strapped to a stretcher, to safety and a waiting ambulance.

He was taken to the University Hospital of North Durham.