A RAILWAY enthusiast from South Wales who got stuck on a steep cutting by the Marlborough tunnel on Sunday had to be rescued by fire fighters.

Marlborough fire station commander Dave Ward said it was one of the most unusual tasks they had been asked to carry out.

The 24-year-old from Cardiff was walking along the former Marlborough to Andover railway line on the edge of the town at Postern Hill.

He told his rescuers that he had walked along the line last used in the mid-1960s until he reached the high entrance to the tunnel.

He could go no further because the tunnel has been turned into a bat sanctuary and its entrance is blocked off. Rather than retrace his steps, he decided to climb the 80ft embankment.

About a third of the way from the top the walker lost his nerve. Station Officer Ward said: "He could not move up or down."

The rambler used his mobile telephone to call for help but he told the Wiltshire Fire Brigade control room that he was stuck on a ledge at the Bruce Tunnel.

The Bruce Tunnel is at Savernake and carries the Kennet and Avon Canal so Mr Ward decided to hedge his bets and send one crew to that tunnel and take another crew to the old railway tunnel on the edge of the town.

The railway tunnel is so inaccessible that the firefighters had to leave their appliance at the Postern House centre for special needs learning and carry their rescue equipment more than half a mile along the old railway line.

Some of the crew walked along the top of the embankment as they approached the tunnel while others, including Leading Firefighter Graham Loney, went along the old rail track.

Mr Loney was able to scramble up to the tiny chalk ledge where the walker was perched.

"He was quite calm but apparently he did not like heights," said the fireman. "He got so far up and then he just bottled it.

"He was up about 50 feet and the bank was wet and slippery with a lot of loose soil. Local kids were going up and down it without too much trouble although it's very dangerous because the top of the bank is undermined."

Other firefighters lowered ropes and a harness to Mr Loney who used them to secure the walker and then assist him down to the bottom of the embankment.

He was then able to continue his ramble along the disused line.

Mr Ward said he was concerned at the number of children using the slope as a playground and wanted to see notices put up warning about the dangers of playing there.