Dog walker injured after fall at Fairlight cliffs

He had been using a rope to lower himself down the 15 to 20ft drop, at Ecclesbourne Glen, when the rope snapped and he slipped and fell.

The emergency services were alerted around 5.25pm and the coastguard, lifeboat, and coastguard helicopter attended the scene.

However the dog was acting aggressively and would not allow any of the crew members to approach the casualty, so police dog handlers and a representative from the RSPCA had to be called to bring the animal under control.

The man was then airlifted to the Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton, with minor injuries.

His dog was uninjured and was taken to shore in the lifeboat. The entire operation took around four hours.

Bud White, station officer at Hastings Coastguard, said: “We would advise people to keep their dog on a lead and to not go after it, if it goes over the edge of the cliff, but instead call the coastguard.

“The dog is usually OK, it is the owner who usually gets into trouble.”