Two hillwalkers were rescued from a forest in the Knockmealdown Mountains after a five-hour ordeal.

The couple, in their 50s, were reportedly trapped in the forest of Rhododendron plants over the weekend.

Rescuers from the South Eastern Mountain Rescue team managed to battle through the virtually "impenetrable" plants to free them.

Hailing from the Waterford area, the couple had attempted to hike around the Tipperary/Waterford border before they got into trouble.

The mountain rescue team received a distress call at 17.24 on Sunday evening via Cahir garda station.

"The married couple were two experienced walkers and they were very well equipped," SEMR team leader Ray Bradfield told independent.ie

"They had walked to the summit of the Knockshanahullion. But instead of taking the normal route down, they attempted to take the Bay Lough route. This brought them into steep ground and essentially impenetrable forest."

"They basically got in a position that they could neither go up nor down. They then contacted Mountain Rescue for assistance," he added.

Cahir River Rescue were also called in to assist the SEMR team because of the difficulty of the rescue.

All the members of both rescue team are volunteers and take no payment to carry out the work that they do.

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