Mountain rescuers have praised a group of teenage girls after they became lost in appalling weather conditions.

The group from Amersham were on a Duke of Edinburgh Award scheme trip when they became lost in an expedition in Wales.

A mountain rescue team from Longtown said the group of five 14 and 15 year-old girl scouts did exactly the right thing when they became lost in heavy rain and low cloud.

The rescuers were called out at 4pm on Sunday by Gwent Police after the group was reported as lost.

The group were at nearly 2,000ft on the Offa’s Dyke path in the Black Mountains when the visibility deteriorated rapidly down to just five metres in the driving wind and rain.

Dave Bevan, Longtown MRT search manager, said: “The group did exactly the right thing. After becoming lost they set up their tent for protection from the environment and called for help.

“We sent up three hill parties to search for them and they were located near the cairn on Loxidge Tump, well away from the main path.

“As you can imagine they were very pleased to see us. They were cold and tired but otherwise unharmed.”

The group was led off the hill and checked over at Longtown MRT’s Control vehicle before being reunited with the rest of their group.