A MAN was rescued after falling from the cliffs at Old Harry Rocks this afternoon.

Both lifeboats from the station at Swanage were launched just after 12pm after several members of the public alerted the coastguard to the incident. The RNLI crews were guided to the casualty by people from the clifftop.

The man was "conscious but distressed", according to an RNLI spokesperson.

He was rescued from the water and the crew on the all-weather lifeboat assessed his injuries.

The air ambulance was called and it landed near to the Haven Hotel at Sandbanks with an ambulance nearby. Paramedics met the lifeboat crew at the ferry steps, and the man was taken to hospital by road.