A WOMAN has suffered a knee injury after falling from a cliff on Portland.

The 21-year-old slipped on the coastal path at Blacknor this afternoon.

It is not thought she fell a great height but a helicopter was called in to perform a rescue.

Earlier information from the coastguard suggested a man was involved but it has now been confirmed it was a woman.

A coastguard spokesman said: "The coastguard team from Portland initially went out to rescue the casualty. They made contact with them but it was decided that it was safer for the man to be assisted by the helicopter and lifted on a stretcher. 

"The helicopter crew placed them on a stretcher and they were lifted to the top of the cliff and was handed over to land ambulance crews."

South Western Ambulance said a woman in her 20s was taken to Dorset County Hospital for treatment to a knee injury.

One Portland resident suggested the woman may have been part of a group of climbers who he saw on the cliff.

He added: "I saw the helicopter out which was called for assistance and the person was taken away in the land ambulance."