DANGEROUS rescues witnessed by dedicated emergency teams in Cumbria have been broadcast by ITV.

The new TV series shows the hard work and sacrifice that volunteers make across the UK.

The eight-part series included Patterdale Mountain Rescue Team as they tackled the rugged terrain of the Lake District.

ITV’s River Deep, Mountain High will showcase the difficulties experienced by following mountain rescue teams, Coast Guard, air ambulances, and lifeboats at sea and inshore.

The men and women will give the public an insight into the work the teams do when someone has found themselves in dire straits.

Patterdale Mountain Rescue Team was featured in the second episode, broadcast last Friday.

The team had small cameras attached to them documenting the rescue missions.

Speeding across Ullswater the team takes viewers for a high-speed trip across the lake.

Working tirelessly, the volunteers capture the moments they find the man who had broken his leg on the opposite side of the water.

A spokesman for ITV said: “Using a unique and refreshing approach to these documentaries, this series will use small cameras attached to the rescuers to capture the moments of rescue as they happen.

“As an audience, we will be given an insight into how these volunteer rescue teams work together, we will feel that we are almost there with them.

“We will experience all the highs and lows that they encounter and will get a true feeling for what these volunteers face day in and day out.

“We’ll also have personal interviews that will reveal what it is that drives them to perform this dangerous and unpaid work; whether it’s a love of adventure or a love of community values, we’ll reveal just who these people are and what it is that makes them heroes in our society.

“Using aerial footage we will illustrate the beauty and hostile environments that these people encounter; whether it’s on the highest mountains in Ireland and the UK, or on the roughest ocean off the West Coast of Ireland, each programme will contain up to three stories of courage and fortitude.”

The show highlights the importance of these teams working together and just what it involves, the spokesman described: “Three mountain rescue teams are called to the aid of an injured ice climber who has spinal and head injuries.

“Forty volunteers turn up to stretcher the injured climber in pitch darkness and icy conditions to a safe area.

“Footage illustrates the difficult conditions they face, and interviews key team members including the casualty tell a tale of true grit and heroism.”