Walker rescued after spending over 12 hours trapped in box 1,600ft up mountain

A walker in Cumbria climbed into a mountain rescue team's emergency stretcher box to escape a storm and ended up being locked inside for more than 12 hours. Wasdale Mountain Rescue Team were contacted by another man, who said he had been walking with his son past the box on Sty Head, between Great Gable and Scafell Pike, when they heard a knocking sound and someone shouting: 'Let me out'.



The rescue team has now warned people not to enter the box unless it's essential, to put the equipment back inside and to let the team know. The warning was shared by Keswick Mountain Rescue Team, who posted the story on their Facebook page on Monday. The message reads: "Myself & my son were walking past the mountain rescue hut at Styhead on Wednesday 26th August 2015, when we heard a knocking sound.

"I said to my son did he hear that & we both thought we were imaging it as it was extremely windy, however we then heard "let me out". We then realised that the knocking was coming from the box, which you can imagine was very strange & unusual. I then heard another cry of "let me out", after which I spoke to the shelter, "what's going on"? There we started a conversation with someone who was inside the shelter.



"We released the latches & with some uneasiness opened the door to the shelter, when we saw a young man all hunched up inside. He started to get out & informed us that he got caught in a storm the previous night & took refuge in the shelter, only to find that whilst he was asleep someone had locked him in! He had been in there for over twelve hours waiting for someone to come by to let him out. He was ok, just very relieved to get out of the box!! Must admit we did find it very amusing...not your usual every day event! Keep up your good work."