The man is believed to have suffered facial injuries after the incident on Carrick-a-Rede island, Co Antrim

A man in his 60s has been airlifted to safety after falling at a well-known tourist attraction.

He is believed to have suffered facial injuries after an incident on Carrick-a-Rede island, near Ballintoy, Co Antrim.

A Royal Navy search and rescue helicopter was scrambled from HMS Gannet base in Prestwick, Scotland, and flew the man to the Causeway Hospital in Coleraine.

The incident happened just after 12.15pm.

A spokeswoman said crews from Coleraine and Ballycastle Coastguard were also involved in the rescue operation.

She said: "At this stage we do not know the circumstances of the fall. He fell on the island. He had walked across the rope bridge.

"It is safer and easier to take someone who is injured off the island by helicopter rather than going back across the rope bridge - no matter what the extend of their injuries."

A spokeswoman for the Causeway Hospital said the man was in a stable condition.