Man escaping 'aggressive' seals rescued from cliff near Eyemouth Published duration 3 November 2018

image copyright Maritime and Coastguard Agency image caption The man was rescued from the cliffs on Friday evening after getting stuck

An angler has been rescued from a cliff face which he scaled in a bid to escape from a colony of "aggressive" seals.

The man was walking along the beach in Green Stane, near Eyemouth, on Friday evening when he encountered about 50 seals and their young pups.

They became agitated and in order to avoid them he scrambled up the cliff but became trapped.

Coastguard teams, an RNLI lifeboat and police were sent to the scene after he raised the alarm at about 19:40.

Ropes were used to lower a coastguard rescue officer to the man and he was then lifted to the lifeboat waiting below.

He was uninjured but had minor cold exposure.

image copyright Richard Webb/Geograph image caption The man got into difficulty on cliffs in the Green Stane area

Coastguard teams from Dunbar, Berwick, North Berwick and Eyemouth, as well as the RNLI Eyemouth lifeboat, assisted with the rescue.

Senior coastguard operations officer Jonathan Mustard said: "Anyone who encounters a seal or a colony of seals on the beach or coastline is advised to move away at the first sign of agitation.

"Aggressive seals are not a common occurrence and in this case they may have been protecting or defending their natural habitat and their young.

"Remember to take a fully charged mobile when walking on the coast and call 999 and ask for the coastguard if you get into difficulty."