The 28-year-old man had driven a Transit containing his partner and newborn baby up Thornton Lane in Thornton in Lonsdale, near Ingleton, on Saturday, when up to 12 inches of snow fell on the high ground of the Dales.

The Cave Rescue Organisation said: “We received a call from a delivery driver stuck in snow on Thornton Lane. He had described ‘heavy snow and icy conditions’, then added ‘newborn baby on board, as well as partner’. Unable to contact the caller to confirm their location, members took a team Land Rover and CRO4 up Thornton Lane, which runs from Thornton Church/Marton Arms towards Kingsdale. With snow across the road in the valley bottom, the team were surprised to find the driver had made it as far as the gate near Kingsdale Head Farm before getting comprehensively stuck.

“CRO rescues people - there are other agencies that recover vehicles - but because the road to the farm was blocked by the van, this was winched out and the driver followed the CRO vehicles back to Thornton. Fortunately, the baby appeared to sleep throughout.”

Volunteers spent a total of 15 hours dealing with the incident.

Thornton Lane, which runs from Kingsdale Head to Deepdale and Dent, reaches an altitude of 1,545ft and is known to be treacherous in winter, with steep descents and ice.

Delivery driver with newborn baby in his van gets stuck in snow drifts in Yorkshire Dales - and mountain rescue spend 15 hours saving them