Police say paraglider had lucky escape

Police say a paraglider who was rescued from the base of a cliff on the Christchurch coast late last night had a lucky escape.

Police launched a search in the Taylors Mistake area on the south-east coast of Christchurch at 9.40pm yesterday, after receiving reports of an overdue paraglider.

After three hours of searching, the 34-year-old man was found at the bottom of a cliff when walkers on the nearby Whitewash Head heard shouts for help.

The man was winched to safety and suffered only minor cuts and abrasions.

Police southern communications centre spokesman Trevor Cross estimated the height of the cliff to be between 50 and 70m and said that the man had had a lucky escape.

"He has obviously made a forced landing...

"If he was to collide with the cliff at any sort of elevation he would literally fall straight down and would've sustained more injuries than just cuts and abrasions."

- NZPA