A woman slipped while she was searching for fossils on cliffs at Walton and had to be airlifted to safety.

The woman, who was described as about 60 years old, was flown to Colchester General Hospital after suffering a suspected ankle injury.

She had been among a group of geologists scouring the Naze cliffs yesterday when the accident happened.

The Essex Air Ambulance and a rescue helicopter from RAF Wattisham were scrambled and the coastguard rescue unit alerted.

The air ambulance landed on a piece of flat ground about halfway down the cliffs while the RAF helicopter lifted the injured woman a few yards so she could be safely lifted aboard.

A spokesman for the Air Ambulance said: "She had wandered from the pathway onto rough ground when she took a tumble."

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