A 60 year old man of British nationality was badly injured when he fell down the Cala Mosca rockface on Wednesday afternoon while trying to descend to the beach down an improvised stairway, much of which had been badly damaged in last year’s storms.

The man fell onto the rockface from a height of about 3 metres.

Initially the extent of his injuries were not known so a rescue helicopter was scrambled from Alicante along with a team of firefighters from the Provincial Consortium, the Guardia Civil and members of the Orihuela Costa Policia Local.

Initially there were access problems to the cliff face from the N332 but these were resolved with the firefighters cutting the locks on the gate across the road from Burger King. This allowed the rescue team access to the site of the incident from where they were lowered down to treat the injured man.

The security forces were initially alerted by passers-by and bathers as the man lay motionless and face down. At that stage the extent of his injuries were not known.

When finally recovered he was treated for cuts and bruises, before being transferred by SAMU ambulance to the University Hospital of Torrevieja for further examination.