A MAN who plunged down a cliff at Golden Cap would not have survived the night if he had not been found, coastguards said.

The 54-year-old holidaymaker suffered serious injuries and was airlifted to hospital after falling 80m down the south coast’s highest cliff.

He was walking his dog when the accident happened at around 4.30pm last Wednesday.

Coastguards said it was very lucky that another walker heard his cries for help and raised the alarm, on a night when temperatures plummeted for the first time this winter.

A coastguard spokesman said: “He is very lucky that somebody heard him at that time of night. He could have easily been there all night and nobody would have been any the wiser.

“I know it’s a reasonable fall but it’s not a sheer drop because it’s through the undergrowth.

“The deep undergrowth prevented him from falling further.”

Lyme Regis Coastguards were at the scene and the coastguard helicopter Rescue 106 joined in the search.

A rescuer abseiled down the cliff to assess the man’s injuries and give first aid, before he was then winched up to the helicopter.

The spokesman said: “We just don’t know how the guy was down there. He was found by Rescue 106 and they put the winchman down to stabilise him.”

The holidaymaker was airlifted to Dorset County Hospital in Dorchester with arm and chest injuries and kept in intensive care.

The spokesman said the man underwent major surgery on his chest and lungs and suffered two broken arms.

He added: “The casualty needed assistance with breathing overnight and will require extensive ortho-paedic surgery.

“He was in a very bad way. If he had been there all night with those kinds of injuries, he wouldn’t have survived.”

A spokesman for Dorset Police said: “There was concern for the welfare of a missing man. We had a report of a man who had fallen down the cliff at Golden Cap.

“The coastguard and ambulance were at the scene and the police attended. The incident isn't being treated as suspicious.”