A pensioner cave expert spent 12 hours underground after becoming trapped in a disused mineshaft in Midlothian.

Jim Salvona, 83, was reported missing from his Edinburgh home on Tuesday evening.

He had left dressed for caving and his car was found near Bilston Glen south of Edinburgh at around 5am on Wednesday. He was located by searchers at around 8.30am.

It is understood that the man had gone down a steep slope and found a vertical mineshaft. He placed a metal ladder down the shaft and was climbing down when he fell, hurting his back.

Because he was trapped in the hole, he was unable to sit or lie down and had to stand upright as he waited to be discovered. A RAF helicopter from Northumbria, the Scottish Cave Rescue Organisation and Tweed Valley Mountain Rescue were called out to pull him from the shaft.

Rescuers found him "in good spirits" and he was stretchered out of the underground location and taken to Edinburgh Royal Infirmary for treatment to a minor back injury.

Alan Jeffreys, from the Scottish Cave Rescue Organisation, said: "The shaft is about six metres deep and he had gone about halfway down, at least, before he slipped. He had hurt his back, which was the major problem as he was unable to sit down. He's been standing down there since around 3pm yesterday.

"Trying to put someone on a stretcher when they are standing up is a bit difficult, so it took some time to buckle him into the stretcher. After that, it was just a matter of muscle power to get him out of the shaft and up the slope, which was very slippery underfoot."

Inspector Gordon McCreadie, of Lothian and Borders Police, said: "We're obviously pleased that there's been a successful outcome today. Despite this man being really experienced in caving, I think it serves to demonstrate how careful we have to be, particularly those who don't have his experience.

"The search continued throughout the night, which was a splendid effort to recover him. He was fairly upbeat, obviously very relieved, and I think quite appreciative of the help of everyone concerned."

Mr Salvona's family knew he had an interest in the Bilston Glen area and the search was focused there after they reported him missing to police around 7pm on Tuesday.

Mr Salvona is a long-serving member of the Grampian Speleological Group and was well-known to some of the members of the rescue team.