'Mammoth' overnight effort from rescue teams and police to find missing man near Chorley

Air assistance was on the scene to help find the missing man (Photos: Andy Robertson/Bolton Mountain Rescue Team).

Mountain rescue personnel from Lancashire were mobilised on Friday night as part of a search to find a "high risk" man who had gone missing.

A spokesman from Bolton Mountain Rescue Team (MRT) said: "At 11:56pm last night our colleagues at Bowland Pennine Mountain Rescue Team were contacted by Lancashire Police who were requesting assistance in a moorland search for a high risk missing male.

"Due to the location of the likely search areas, the call was handed over to our team, although both teams worked side-by-side throughout."

The search began on foot on moorland in the Rivington area of Chorley where Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service assisted with their mobile aerial drones.

An air scenting dog search team was then mobilised alongside the Calder Valley Search and Rescue Team to gather more information on the likely direction of the man.

Additional air support was provided from Caernarfon in North Wales which arrived on scene at around 7am.

More than seven hours later at 7:45am on Saturday morning, the missing man was located "safe and well" by a Bolton MRT search party a short distance from the Roddlesworth Information Centre between Chorley and Blackburn.

A spokesman from Bolton MRT said: "This was a mammoth team effort with many statutory and voluntary organisations all seamlessly working alongside each other - all contributing to a fantastic outcome."

Terry Woods of Lancashire Police took to social media to praise those who took part in the rescue mission.