THREE young men were trapped for four hours after climbing 200ft up on to the ledge of a disused quarry.

Firefighters using specialist equiment had to rescue the trio after they became stuck on the old chalk quarry at Blue Bell Hill, near Chatham.

Paul Mellett, a sub-officer at Medway Fire Station, said: "They literally couldn't move.

They couldn't climb the remaining 40ft to the top because it was a sheer drop and they couldn't climb back down the steep slope because the ground was loose and there was a risk of them falling and being killed."

The trio, two 20-year-olds and a 17-year-old, had climbed the quarry off Common Road on Saturday morning.

They had been trapped since noon and made a number of attempts to climb down bot found it too dangerous.

Finally one of them used his mobile phone to get help, first calling police who relayed the message to firefighters just before 2.20pm.

A fire engine each from Medway and Maidstone were despatched along with a specialist line rescue vehicle based more than 50 miles away in Deal.

Mr Mellett said: "It was at first difficult finding where the three lads were because the directions we were given were a bit vague. We ended up finding them by literally shouting out to each other.

"When we located them we told them they unfortunately still have to wait because the line rescue team would take at least half an hour to get here from Deal even with the siren and blue lights."

The unit, which specialises in cliff rescues, arrived and two firefighters climbed down on ropes to reach the youngsters.

One by one the trio had harnesses attached to them and were pulled up to safety with a winch. All three were hauled up by 4.30pm.

Mr Mellett said: "One of them had hurt his knee but, apart from that, the only thing about them injured was their pride.

"They were also very thirsty because it was a hot day and the sun had shone directly onto the quarry face. But luckily they did not actually suffer dehydration."