An elderly man who fell 15 feet down a river bank near Constantine has died.

The man, who is reported to have been 79, is understood to have been walking with this dog when he slipped at Scott’s Wood, Polwheveral Creek.

It has been reported that the man’s dog raised the alarm to passers-by, who contacted the emergency services.

A paramedic from Cornwall Air Ambulance was one of the first on the scene, shortly followed by Falmouth Coastguard Rescue Team. They were also joined by South Western Ambulance Service, Porthoustock Cliff Rescue Team and Falmouth Inshore Lifeboat, with the coastguard helicopter also flying above.

The man sustained head and back injuries in the fall and was found partially submerged in water.

Members of Falmouth Coastguard helped paramedics with stabilising the man in the water, while a rope rescue system was put in place to help winch him back up to the footpath.

A specialist rope rescue technician was lowered down with a stretcher but it was decided that given the man’s condition it would be best to transfer him first to the inshore lifeboat and from there into the coastguard helicopter, which was unable to winch directly due to the tree cover being too dense.

The man was flown directly to hospital, but it was later confirmed on the Falmouth Coastguard Facebook page that he had subsequently died.

The team wrote: “Our thoughts are with the family and friends of the gentleman at this time.

“A big thank you to the members of the public who were on scene before emergency services. You did a great job despite the sad outcome.”