A FISHERMAN from Lyme Regis has joined the campaign to save Portland’s coastguard helicopter after his dramatic rescue from under the cliffs of the Jurassic coast.

Matthew Stiles, 23, of Lyme Regis, was walking on rocks under Thorncombe Beacon when he slipped and fell, dislocating his knee.

Fossil hunters heard his agonised cries for help and called the coastguard who were there within minutes.

It was the second time in his life Mr Stiles had dislocated his knee and he knew there was no way he could make it to anywhere accessible by ambulance.

He said: “We were right underneath Thornbombe Beacon.

“It was a half hour’s walk either way to Seatown or Eype so it was pretty remote.

“I slipped over on one of the rocks and hit my knee as I went down and that knocked my kneecap out.

“It was just excruciating, the pain was just indescribable.

“I have dislocated it once before about four years ago and I know there is no way I could have walked or put any pressure on it.”

Mr Stiles said it was a great relief to see the helicopter so quickly and he paid tribute to the skill of the pilot.

He said: “They landed on the beach.

“There wasn’t really any space to land the helicopter but they managed to.

“The paramedics came to me and got me on a stretcher and airlifted me up and we must have only been minutes in the air before we were at Dorchester.

“It was much quicker than it would have been if it came from Lee on Solent.

“I have lots of admiration for the pilots and paramedics, without them it would have been a long wait for anyone else.

“I am now fully supporting the campaign to keep the helicopter on Portland, absolutely.”

Mr Stiles’ girlfriend Georgie Williams, 22, is also now a keen supporter of the Portland base.

She was with him during his ordeal but had been waiting down on the beach for him.

She said: “I am extremely grateful for all the help and assistance from the coastguard.”

Mr Stiles’ mother Janet also supports the campaign to save the Portland helicopter.

She was with Matthew when he injured his knee four years ago.

She lives in Buckinghamshire and says it is a disgrace the government can think of spending billions on a high speed train link to Birmingham at the same time as making savings on the helicopter.

“I heard the government announce the go-ahead for HS2 which will run within a few miles of my home in Buckinghamshire.

“Then I heard that the Portland helicopter is under threat of being withdrawn as a cost saving measure.

“The costs of keeping the helicopter are negligible compared with those of HS2.”

Crucial meeting

TWO Dorset MPs met the Transport Secretary in a last ditch bid to save the axed Portland Coastguard helicopter.

The fate of the helicopter is now in Justine Greening’s hands, South Dorset MP Richard Drax said.

Mr Drax and West Dorset MP Oliver Letwin took their argument to Miss Greening in Westminster.

The pair presented the Secretary of State with a report which they believe shows that analysis used by the Department of Transport for closing the island base is wrong.

Under the new plans for civilianisation of the Search and Rescue (SAR) helicopter service, the helicopter will be scrapped by 2017. The nearest helicopter would be at Lee-on-Solent.

Campaigners who have joined the MPs in the battle now face a tense wait for Miss Greening’s response to the report.

They questioned the £12 million cost of the Portland helicopter given by the Department of Transport.

Mr Drax estimated that the true cost was £7million or less.