A MAN has suffered "severe" injuries in a paraglider crash at a beauty spot on the Herefordshire border, rescuers have said.

Emergency services and rescue teams were called to Hay Bluff, near Hay-on-Wye, to reports of a crashed paraglider – with the injured man airlifted to hospital by the coastguard.

Longtown Mountain Rescue Team, one of the groups involved in the operation, said it was "very quickly" at the scene after learning of the paraglider's "severe" injuries.

Along with Dyfed-Powys Police, it called in the coastguard helicopter from St Athan, near Cardiff, "due to the severity and concern for the casualty".

With the injured paraglider needing to be airlifted to hospital after the crash on Saturday morning, he was moved to the top of the hill, which spans the border between Herefordshire and Powys, so he could be winched up.

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The mountain rescue team, made up of volunteers, thanked everyone involved, including the injured paraglider's friends who stayed with him throughout, and a passing paramedic who gave immediate medical help.

"Initial reports were of a knee injury but after further investigation and contact with the casualty’s friends it became clear that the injuries were severe," the team said.

"Very quickly we had a team member on the hill at the scene, with the rest of the team on route and not far behind.

"Due to the severity and concern for the casualty we requested support from Maritime and Coastguard Agency who sent Rescue 187 from St Athans."

"The casualty’s location and injuries meant that winching onto the helicopter would be difficult and it was decided that the best option was for the team to raise the casualty up the hill slope first – to achieve this the helicopter did shuttle lifts to get the team and its equipment from Hay Common to the Summit in record time."

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It added: "Once on the summit, the team set up a rope raise system, got the casualty onto a stretcher and able to raise him up slowly before transferring him to the waiting helicopter for onward travel to hospital. We wish him a full and speedy recovery.

"We would like to say big thank you to Rescue187 for their help as always, to the casualty’s friends who stayed with him throughout and also the passing paramedic who was able to give immediate medical aid."

Longtown Mountain Rescue Team is a voluntary organisation who respond to requests from the police for assistance in the Black Mountains of South Wales and into Herefordshire for injured and missing people.

The team is on-call 24 hours a day, 365 days a year and relies entirely on donations from members of the public to carry out this essential life-saving rescue service.