A DRAMATIC helicopter lift failed to save the life of a former Atherton walker who had a heart attack on an isolated Welsh hillside.

Ray Jones, 70, died after collapsing while out walking on the Llangollen hills in North Wales.

Members of the Bolton Holiday Fellowship Walking Group tried desperately to give mouth-to-mouth resuscitation and heart massage before emergency services arrived.

Paramedics continued first aid in the helicopter but Mr Jones was dead by the time they landed at Wrexham.

Mr Jones' wife Shirley was also out rambling on the hills with another party from the Holiday Fellowship group in the same area and only learned of her husband's death after she had completed her walk.

Mr Jones collapsed about half way through the 10-mile walk.

Mr Jones was a keen gardener with a passion for the natural world and hill walking.

A grandad, Mr Jones moved from his home in Hillcrest, Atherton, nine months ago to be nearer to his two daughters, in Clayton-Le-Woods near Chorley.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.