A woman had to be rescued after falling 20ft off a north-east coastal path yesterday afternoon.
A coastguard rescue team from Stonehaven was called into action at 2.40pm after the woman – believed to be in her 60s – slipped down a cliff just north of Cowie, near Stonehaven.
She is said to have been walking with two friends on the popular coastal path between Cowie and Muchalls when she slipped and fell onto the rocky shore.
She was treated at the scene for what was believed to be head injuries.
Coastguards had to carry the woman from the foot of the cliff to safety in a stretcher for treatment from paramedics.
Station officer for the Stonehaven Coastguards, Colin Moir, said: “She wasn’t seriously hurt. She slipped off the coastal footpath. She fell about 20ft.
“It was all done in about half an hour. We went and checked her over and stretcher carried her back.
“She did fall down into the beach on the rocks. She was with two friends. It must have been them that phoned up.”
A UK Coastguard spokesman said: “We were there as a precaution because it was on the coast. We have a requirement to attend the incident on the coast even if it is a straight forward ambulance job on the ground.”
No one from the Scottish Ambulance Service was available to comment.
A spokesman for the Scottish Ambulance Service said the woman had been treated for a head injury.
The service could not confirm if she was transferred to hospital for treatment.