A dog walker was today fighting for his life after he plunged down a quarry and lay undiscovered for up to 24 hours.

The 59-year-old suffered broken bones, hypothermia and bleeding on the brain in the fall at Chellow Dene Quarry in Bradford, and is in a critical condition in the intensive care unit at Bradford Royal Infirmary.

The man, from Allerton, failed to return home after going to walk his dog at 10am on Friday.

Police were alerted by his family on Friday evening when he did not turn up for work.

A search of the area was mounted, which continued through the night.

The man, who has not been named, was spotted just before midday on Saturday at the bottom of the quarry by the West Yorkshire Police helicopter, using heat-seeking equipment, and officers on the ground found him seriously injured.

He was rescued from the quarry by police and ambulance crews and taken to hospital.

A police spokesman said: "He had been laying there for some time, potentially for 24 hours.

"We are not treating it as a suspicious incident and we have no reason to believe that any third party was involved."

l A 24 year-old hospital patient was rescued after plunging 18ft into a culvert near the Leeds-Liverpool canal and breaking his ankle while fleeing police.

The incident involving the Airedale hospital patient took place at the Leeds Liverpool canal near Bradford Road, Riddlesden, yesterday morning.

Firefighters from Keighley were called to help rescue the man who needed pain-killing drugs before he could be moved to a waiting ambulance.

Keighley crew manager Andy Horsley said fire crew gave him pain relief and then strapped him to a "long board".

"It was very awkward to get him from the scene. We had to beat through the undergrowth and take a route of about 200 yards to avoid lifting him over walls," he said.

An ambulance crew had also been on the scene to ensure he was stable.

A West Yorkshire Police spokesman said officers had been called to an address in Bradford Road, Keighley, to trace a man who had absconded from the mental health unit at Airedale General Hospital, Steeton.

"After he had agreed to return to hospital the man ran from the house along the canal and jumped over a wall injuring his leg."

He was taken for treatment at Airedale before being returned to the mental health unit.

e-mail: steve.wright@bradford.newsquest.co.uk