POLICE and RAF rescuers have been praised for getting a stranded couple and baby off Dartmoor.

Annie Carson, 26, her 11-month old baby Luke and her boyfriend Kevin Speed, 25, from Okehampton had driven up to Okement Hill, Okehampton, last week to look at the snow.

But their car skidded on ice and became stuck in a snowdrift at Okehampton Camp, near Okement Hill.

This is an isolated part of the moor and one of the least frequented. The road is very rough and steep.

Mr Speed called the police on his mobile at around 7pm and Okehampton traffic police constables Steve Thomson and Steve Millar went out in a 4x4 Discovery. They were not far off the stranded car when they found their 'Disco' could not get up the hill at Okehampton camp.

RAF Chivenor, near Barnstaple, was then called and around 9pm sent out a Sea King helicopter, manned by Squadron Leader William Webber, Flight Lieutenant Mark Dunlop, Sergeant David Watson and Petty Officer Alan Mullins. In 15 minutes they found the car and lifted the marooned three, uninjured, off the moor.

Ms Carson said the helicopter crew and police were 'brilliant'.

Originally from London and having lived in Devon for four years, Ms Carson said they thought it would be nice to go and see the snow: 'It was very icy up on the moor and we ended up in a bank.'

She said they thought they could get out but when they realised this was not possible they began to worry — especially as it was getting dark.

'It was scary in a way but we did think someone would rescue us.'

Ms Carson said: 'It was frightening because we were up there alone and in the dark. It was nice and warm in the car with the engine running but outside it must have been hell. It was so cold that it froze your hands and feet if you tried to get out.'

The helicopter arrived on the scene at 9.40pm.

'I would like to thank the crew and the police — they were really excellent. I could never thank them enough for what they did. It was horrible out there, but the the helicopter crew and police were amazing.'

'They had the car engine running and were wrapped up warm, but they were a bit shaken,' said an RAF spokesman.

Meanwhile a group of friends had also gone out to try to rescue them but had been unable to reach them.

The helicopter took the three to Okehampton Camp from where they were given a lift to their homes in Okehampton and Torrington by traffic police soon after 10pm.

A police spokesman said it was surprising their car had got so far. James Tennant, a four-wheel drive specialist from Sourton, said the road might have been passable for a Land Rover with chains, but even then it was doubtful how much further the police car could have gone.

The police spokesman said: 'our own helicopter was occupied on other business and anyway it is not authorised to fly using night vision goggles, which would have been needed to land. Conditions were so dangerous, the Land Rover could not get to them safely. Without a mobile, who knows what might have happened to them?'

The cost of the rescue was estimated at £5,000.

A few days earlier Dartmoor Rescue was involved in another emergency when it saved the life of a 79-year-old man at Fernworthy.

James Bishop, owner of a guest house at Postbridge, collapsed from a stroke when on a short walk from home with a relative.

The relative walked to a cottage in Fernworthy Forest and called for help. Sgt Dave Grimbly of Okehampton police mobilised Dartmoor Rescue Group and they went out to find the man.

'The helicopter would have been useless as visibility was down to 20 yards, conditions were horrendous,' said Sgt Grimbly.

He and the cottage owner, up to their knees in mud, carried Mr Bishop, who weighs around 15 stone and was stiffening up from the stroke and hypothermia, 400 metres to the LandRover.

'He stopped breathing at one point, but we managed to get his heart going again and took him back to the cottage,' said Sgt Grimbly.

From there he was taken to the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital, where he was said to be 'doing well' last week.