Brambles save cliff-fall Australian in Cornwall Lucky ... man saved by brambles. Picture: Bob Barker Source: DailyTelegraph AN 80-year-old Australian tourist who slid 30m down a cliff face in the UK was saved when his clothing caught on bushes. Rescuers said the man was just metres from a steep vertical drop onto rocks off Mount Edgcumbe Country Park in Cornwall when his clothes became snagged. Insp Gordon Peters from the Ministry of Defence Police said the man's cries for help were heard by a passing yachtsmen about 11.30 local time on Wednesday. "They saw this poor chap, who was very worried that he was slipping towards this 10ft (3m) drop, held only by brambles and blackberries," he said. He slipped off a path and fell down a very steep slope, about 100ft (30m), towards the sea. He'd rolled and slid, through bushes and trees, when he was caught by his clothing. If he hadn't stopped, we would have gone over the drop, vertical onto rocks, which would have damaged him a lot more than he was. Coastguards and police rushed to the scene. A spokesman for the police said Brixham Coastguard requested help from the Defence Police Marine Unit at HM Naval Base Devonport, Plymouth, and vessels on warship escort in Plymouth Sound also answered the call. "They lowered him to the rocks below where a team from the Maritime and Coastguard Agency administered first aid," the spokesman said. The injured man was placed on a stretcher and transported across Plymouth Sound on the Mod Police RIB to a waiting ambulance at Mill Bay. Insp Peters said the injured man had migrated to Australia from England, and was back in the UK visiting family. The man had been walking along when he slipped.