Rescuers say it was unlikely the 38-year-old man could have survived a second night on the cliff. He had attempted to climb the cliff at Worbarrow after getting cut off by the tide,

He was reported missing by his wife after he failed to return to their home in Wimborne, a police spokesman said, and his whereabouts were pinpointed after his camper van was found.

"This was a fine example of the public, the coast guard and the police working together to save a life," Superintendent David Griffith of the Dorset Police told Sky News. "If the man had been out on that cliff face for a second night, I have no doubt that we would have been recovering a body."