Driver survives 100ft cliff plunge

A woman in Britain was pulled alive from the wreckage of her car today after it plunged 100ft off a cliff top on to the beach below.

The woman is critically ill in hospital following the early morning incident near Marsden Rocks, in South Tyneside.

Police and fire crews spent more than an hour cutting her from the wreckage of her car before she was hoisted by stretcher up the cliff face to a waiting Sea King coastguard helicopter.

The drama happened shortly before 7am, when her car broke through a roadside barrier and slewed almost 400 yards across grass before going over the edge of the cliffs.

A spokeswoman for Northumbria Police said: “The female driver is still alive but has sustained serious injuries.

“We are still trying to find out what happened.

“The car must have gone straight over the edge of the cliffs, it’s a massive drop.”

More than 30 emergency workers, five fire engines and an ambulance were called to the scene along with the Coastguard and the Sunderland auxiliary lifeboat.