FOUR off road motorcyclists were rescued from a reservoir west of Rhayader in a multi-agency effort after abandoning their bikes in a failed attempt to walk to safety.

Brecon Mountain Rescue Team (BMRT) were called out just before midnight on Friday, September 11 by Dyfed Powys Police to locate the missing off road motorcyclists from Kent in a remote and mountainous area of Claerwen Reservoir.

The team were assisted by members of Abergavenny based Longtown Mountain Rescue Team during the incident in which a helicopter evacuation had to be abandoned due to the adverse weather conditions and replaced by a boat to transport the lost party across the reservoir.

The missing bikers were found around 3am on Saturday morning following a 2.8 mile trek across difficult moorland by BMRT members.

A team spokesman said: "One of the party had a medical condition making it almost impossible for him to walk even with assistance. Rescue 936 Search and Rescue Helicopter was scrambled from Caernarfon but this was unable to reach the scene due to the adverse weather conditions.

"The problem was solved by some lateral thinking by the incident control team who realised that a short 350m boat trip across the reservoir to the north shore would lead to a byway along which an evacuation by four wheel drive vehicle could be arranged.

"Mid and West Fire and Rescue Service from Aberystwyth were called and provided a boat, which was launched from the Claerwen dam and made its way, 4.5k along the reservoir to the casualty site. All casualties were safely evacuated to the awaiting Land Rover."

Dave Coombes, deputy team leader for the Brecon Mountain Rescue Team, added: "This is another example of rescue services, mountain rescue, the fire service and police working together to effect a rescue in difficult terrain."

Brecon Mountain Rescue Team 49 members, who are all volunteers, and relies solely on public donations to cover its £40,000 annual running costs.