A rescue operation was launched after a 42-year-old man plummeted from his paraglider on to the slopes of the Downs.

Fire crews and ambulance rescue workers were scrambled to the scene after the accident near Lewes yesterday afternoon.

The man landed on a steep slope at Mount Caburn, near Beddingham, a site which is popular with paragliders and hang-gliders.

An ambulance was sent to the scene at 12.39pm but the slope was so steep fire crews with specialist rope equipment were sent from Battle and Bexhill fire stations to winch him to the paramedics. A fire crew from Lewes was also sent to the scene.

The man was rescued from the slope with multiple injuries but it is not yet known how serious his condition is.

He was taken to the Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton.

Emergency services have been called to a number of serious incidents involving paragliders and hang-gliders this year.

In July a paraglider had a lucky escape when he crashed into downland during a weekend flight.

He got into trouble at Devil's Dyke, near Brighton, shortly after taking off.

Witnesses said he made a right-hand turn, then tried to turn 360 degrees before finding himself careering into a steep slope.

A New Zealand doctor out jogging with a friend saw the commotion and reset the man's broken leg. The paraglider was taken to hospital with other injuries including a suspected broken lower back.

In January two ambulance crews, plus Hotel 900, the police helicopter with an on-board paramedic and an additional ambulance officer, treated an injured paraglider who had fallen about 30ft in countryside close to Firle.