A RESCUE mission was mounted after a hill walker took a fall on a hill in the Alva area.

Members of the Ochils Mountain Rescue Team were dispatched following a call from Police Scotland on Saturday, April 22.

It was reported a woman had taken a fall on the hill that overlooks Alva Golf Course and had contacted emergency services, who in turn alerted the Ochils MRT.

Kevin Mitchell, incident manager, said: "As it happened, myself and five others in the team were already at the mountain rescue post.

"We were doing our PPE checking and recording so when the call came in from Police Scotland, there was six of us already at the post so our response service was quite quick.

"The ambulance service had received the call and they requested us to come and assist as they couldn't get the walker off the hill.

"We mobilised the whole team – a pack went up quite quickly with a stretcher and then other people arrived. We had 17 team members in attendance to help us.

"We worked alongside the Scottish Ambulance Service and Police Scotland to retrieve the casualty and then evacuate the area.

"It was quite a tricky carry down as the terrain is quite rocky so we had to set up a rope system to get the stretcher down.

"All in all, it all went very well but was tricky at times."

Members of the Ochils MRT responded to the call at around lunchtime, with the full rescue mission being completed within two hours.

The incident didn't take place too far up the hill, which Kevin said made the operation much easier for the team.

With drier conditions approaching, more people are expected to make use of the weather and embark on more hill walks.

The Ochills MRT have issued a plea of caution to anyone going up the hills, urging people to stay safe and call the emergency services should anything go wrong.

"The advice we would give to anyone would be wear appropriate footwear," Kevin added. "Make sure you know what the weather is going to be.

"Make sure you set off early, enjoy your day and make sure you can navigate.

"Our perennial advice is if you come under difficulty in the hills – whether you are lost or injured – you dial 999 and ask for the police and then mountain rescue."