A man stranded in freezing conditions after breaking his leg had a lucky escape when he was rescued by a group of intrepid campers.

The victim, thought to be a local farmer in his 50s, slipped on ice while walking his dog in a field at Magham Down, near Hailsham.

He hurt himself so badly he was unable to move and was calling desperately for help.

It was 8am on Saturday morning, a time when the surrounding fields would normally have been deserted.

With the temperature several degrees below freezing and the ground covered in snow and frost, his condition could have deteriorated rapidly were it not for the arrival on the scene of off-duty policeman Steven Charlton, 36, and friends Andrew Cunningham, 37, and Glen Wood, 25.

The three rescuers had been enjoying a camping and falcon hunting trip when they heard the injured man's screams in the distance.

Mr Charlton, of Battle Road, Hastings, said: "We heard him calling and at first we thought it was someone herding cattle. Then we realised he was shouting 'help me'."

Mr Charlton said although the man had been stranded for only ten minutes, the temperature was minus ten degrees.

"He was already very cold. I think hypothermia would soon have set in," he said.

The three men acted quickly to get help. One ran to call an ambulance, another returned to their camp to look after the group's red tail hawks and the third stayed with the injured man.

Mr Charlton said: "If we hadn't been there I don't think anyone would have realised what had happened for several hours. There was no-one around and the houses nearby were shut up.

"His leg was quite badly broken, snapped near his ankle, not just fractured. It was very lucky we were up there.

The injured man was taken to Eastbourne District General Hospital, where he was admitted and kept in for treatment.