A FOUR-hour rescue took place on one of Scotland's remotest islands after a man plunged 40 feet into a sea cave.

The alarm, and much of the information to locate the faller, was conducted by text because the telephone signal was so poor on Handa, a nature reserve three miles off the northwest coast of Sutherland. The man was said to have had "a lucky escape," and was finally airlifted to the Western Isles Hospital in Stornoway on the Isle of Lewis with several broken bones at 12.30am on Saturday. His condition is unknown.

The alarm was raised around 8.30pm on Friday when the seasonal Scottish Wildlife Trust warden on the normally uninhabited tiny island, which is home to more than 100,000 seabirds - texted that the man had fallen 40 feet over a cliff.

Lochinver Lifeboat was launched at 8.40pm and managed to get its smaller Y-boat into the cave to rescue the man, who was badly injured.