A woman has been rescued by helicopter after falling from a turret of Wells Cathedral.
The 68-year-old woman was part of a tour group of 12 adults accompanied by two guides when she fell from a turret that stands 45m above the ground onto a platform about 9m beneath her.
A helicopter rescue team were called into action and carried the woman to safety, where she could receive treatment for a possible broken arm.
A spokesman for Wells Cathedral said:
The emergency services did a fantastic job.She fell inside the cathedral but they took her out through the top of the roof.
A group of 12 adults were undertaking the final stage of a standard Cathedral high parts tour. While the group was undertaking a briefing within this space, an incident occurred to one of the party members.
The cathedral’s emergency procedure was immediately put into operation.
No details are yet available as to how the incident occurred but all further high parts tours and cathedral tower tours are cancelled until further notice while a review of the incident takes place.
Wells Cathedral was built in 1175 and has been variously described as “unquestionably one of the most beautiful” and as “the most poetic” of English cathedrals.
