A MOBILITY scooter user has thanked the good Samaritans who rushed to rescue her when she tumbled down a slippery embankment while out walking her dogs.

Sue Templeton Vass was lucky to escape serious injury when she slipped and became trapped in a thorn bushes behind Deorna Court, in Darlington, on Saturday.

Residents rushed to rescue her after being alerted by screams.

As darkness fell, the rescue mission became increasingly complicated and for a time there was concern the mobility scooter, which was positioned precariously a short distance away, would come crashing down on top of the casualty.

A local nurse was able to help ensure Ms Templeton Vass remained in a stable condition as others worked to free her.

Once rescued she was taken to Darlington Memorial Hospital by ambulance, suffering cuts and bruises.

A 4x4 was used to recover the mobility scooter.

Ms Templeton Vass, who has benign tumours on her brain stem and suffers from arthritis, relies on carers to help around the home.

Recovering from her ordeal at home in Darlington, she was quick to thank those who came to her rescue.

She also praised her dogs, Roobi and Pipi, for keeping her spirits up during the incident.

She said: "We were down by the railway embankment and we kept going further than we usually do.

"I thought we'd better go back, but the path got really narrow and I realised it was not the path we had come down initially.

"I got off the scooter because one of the wheels was starting to go over the edge of the path.

"The next thing I knew, I had slipped and landed in the bushes.

"I don't know how long I was trapped there for, screaming for help.

"But people came and helped me, for which I am very, very grateful.

"I don't know how I would have fared if I had had to spend the night there."

Paul Scott, one of the rescuers, said: "I did not know what I was walking into when I went to help.

"It is lucky she came off where she did. If she had managed to go another 30 or 40 yards she would have hurt herself very badly and it would have been very difficult to recover her."

Ms Templeton Vass, a former dancer, once staged a one-woman art installation at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, entitled The Ubiquitous Dishcloth.