Safety and Public Awareness video sponsored by Cumbria Tourism. Mountain rescue teams in Lakeland have produced a six-minute video to explain the problems they are facing.

Richard Warren, chairman of the group representing all the teams in the Lake District tells of the various pitfalls faced by walkers who don’t prepare properly when they go out on the fell tops.

They are either ill-equipped, don’t check weather forecasts and haven’t enough navigational skills and mountain knowledge.

It’s a common believe by many walkers that the mountain rescue teams are funded by the Government, when, in fact they are all volunteers who give up time to train and then go on to the fells when they receive emergency calls.

The video is one weapon in the rescuers’ armoury to try to halt the rising trend of callouts, many of which are avoidable.

Warren quotes the case of one group of walkers who demanded a helicopter to get them down from the fells because they didn’t want to be late for a dinner party.

Rescuers in the Lake District saw an 8 per cent rise in incidents last year with 15 per cent more people rescued.

Acting Chief Inspector Gordon Rutherford of Cumbria Constabulary backed the project to educate walkers. He said: “We fully support this initiative and would encourage all those visiting the Lake District to ensure that any walk is planned in advance and sensible precautions are taken.”

Out of the 15 million visitors that come to Cumbria and the Lake District each year, over two-thirds choose to go walking.