At 17:27 this afternoon the team was contacted by Lancashire Constabulary who reported they had been contacted by two walkers, who had lost there bearings in the vicinity of Winter Hill. The hilltops were shrouded in thick hill fog at the time.

The team were placed on standby whilst a “sarlock” was made to pin point the walkers location.

Assistant Team Leader, Mark Scott, who lives in Horwich made his way to the missing walkers location, and transported the pair to their vehicle.

22 team personnel had declared themselves available for a search, should the need have arisen.