AN ANGLER was airlifted to hospital suffering suspected hypothermia after becoming ill during a fishing trip today.

It is believed the man was not dressed as warmly as he could have been during a trip off West Bay.

Portland Coastguard received a call from a crewman on board an angling charter boat at 10.45am.

The crew had gone out sea angling and were 45 minutes out from West Bay when they made the emergency call.

Coastguards said the casualty was ‘very unwell.’ A spokesman for the coastguard said: “The casualty was in and out of consciousness. He was very unwell.

“After a conference call with doctors he was airlifted to Dorchester. The Portland rescue helicopter took the man to Dorset County Hospital.

The man, reported to be between 65-70 years old, was described as being ‘very unwell’ when he was airlifted.

The coastgurd spokesman said: “We were led to believe he will make a recovery. We don’t know if there were any underlying causes.”

He added: “It is March and it was sea angling. We were led to believe he was not dressed as warmly as he could have been and so he got cold.”