RECKLESS onlookers forced a rescue helicopter crew to abort a cliff-top rescue - endangering the lives of two trapped people.

Coastguards today hit out at the behaviour of the bystanders who themselves could have been blown over the cliff by the helicopter rotor’s downforce.

Some were believed to be taking photographs and filming the incident while the helicopter crew tried to rescue the 10-year-old girl and a man aged 28 who were in difficulty.

The Portland Coastguard helicopter had difficulty performing a precision winch because the aircraft’s powerful ‘rotor wash’ could have blown the onlookers, which included a young girl, off the cliff, rescuers said.

At one point the helicopter was ready to lift the pair to safety but the aircraft had to back off because of the danger it posed to the people below.

A group of people refused to leave the area despite efforts by the helicopter crew to get them clear, a coastguard spokesman said.

A coastguard rescue team on the ground eventually persuaded them to move.

Once the helicopter had a clear run the pair were lifted off and put on the beach at Worbarrow, none the worse for their ordeal.

The drama unfolded after the man and the girl, visiting the area with a party from Bournemouth, made a 999 call to say they were stuck.

It is understood they had been walking along the coast and decided to climb a grassy bank but had reached a point where they could neither go up nor down. They were about 30ft from the top of a 150ft high cliff.

Lulworth Coastguard’s cliff rescue team was dispatched but the helicopter from Portland which had also been scrambled was first on the scene and set about winching the pair to safety.

But an operation that should have taken less than 10 minutes was delayed by the onlookers who were at the top of the cliff, some of whom were taking photographs.

Portland Coastguard Search and Rescue Mission Controller Dominic Lonsdale said the rescue mission was seriously hampered and in fact nearly aborted because of the actions of the people on the ground.

He said: “The group, who we think included some family members, were so close to the cliff top that they were in danger of being blown off by the force of the helicopter.

“The helicopter wasn’t able to perform a rescue without causing serious injury to those people and it had to back off until we could get them clear with the help of the land team.

“If you think a loaded helicopter is nine tons that’s a lot of air blowing down from the rotors to keep that weight in the air.”

Mr Lonsdale added: “It’s a problem the emergency services face with bystanders who can perhaps unwittingly cause an obstruction.

“Although it may be tempting to try and get close to an incident or to take photographs of a rescue in progress, the members of the public who hampered the rescue put two people’s lives at risks by disallowing resources to reach them.

“The truth of the matter is that they didn’t know they were blocking the attempted rescue. They didn’t know how strong the downdraft from the helicopter can be.”

Mr Lonsdale said the helicopter was scrambled earlier this week to airlift a man who had got stuck in brambles on a cliff near Chapman’s Pool.

He warned: “If you come to the end of a pathway along a beach, do not attempt to climb up cliffs to continue your journey or you may, as these people did, find yourself in need of rescue.”