Climber and friends rescue lamb trapped on Canterbury cliff face

Somewhere on the Crater Rim Walkway, near Lyttelton, a lamb will be thanking its lucky stars because of Matt Winter.

The 34-year-climbing enthusiast, originally from Yorkshire, England, received a call from his friend Ria Holly on Saturday morning saying she had found a lamb perched precariously on a cliff face during her morning run.

Below the lamb was about a 25m drop, and there was no grass or water for it to feed on.

Winter and his partner Nina Coyle didn't hesitate and were on their way to help within minutes.

"Ria sounded quite concerned about the lamb," Winter said.

"She said she wouldn't live it down if it fell off the ledge.

Matt Winter climbing down the cliff. Photo / Supplied

"I'm a bit of an animal-lover myself and I work as a rope access technician, that's my job.

"So she just asked me if I could lend my skills, so I got my rock climbing gear and headed up to meet her."

When Winter got there, he made sure the cliff was safe to attach his ropes and abseiled down to the lamb.

"When I got quite close it tried darting, so I put my hand out, grabbed it, and stopped it from jumping off."

If the lamb had jumped, Winter said "it would have died on impact on the jagged rocks beneath".

But thanks to their efforts that didn't happen. Once it was in Winter's arms, he climbed up about 3m and carried it to safety.

Holly - whose partner Matt Doherty helped carry the lamb to safety after it had been rescued from the cliff - said it was noticeably light and she was not sure how long it had been without food or water.

The lamb was noticeably light after the ordeal. Photo / Supplied

"It must have been there for days because it was so light."

The lamb was carried away from the cliff and, as this was happening, Coyle saw two strangers with water bottles.

"They handed over all of their water," she said.

"The guy sat there for ages putting little dribbles in his hands and then letting the lamb drink it."

Once the lamb had the water and grazed on some grass, the group let it go free in the hope it would find its mother again.

Winter said he does not consider himself a hero: "I'm trained to do that, it's all in a day's work."

However, his family back home in Yorkshire will be proud, he said.

- starnews.co.nz