An elderly man has been rescued after falling 30 metres down a cliff in the eastern Bay of Plenty.

Emergency services were called to help the man who had become stuck in bush on the hillside above West End Rd in Ohope on Sunday afternoon.

He'd fallen about 30 metres through scrub, injuring himself.

"Soon after arrival we located the patient approximately 30metres down the steep embankment with only minor cuts and scrapes," Ohope Volunteer Fire Brigade says in a Facebook post.

"Due to extremely difficult terrain a Level 2 Line Rescue crew from Whakatane Volunteer Fire Brigade joined us, and a Level 3 Line Rescue crew were dispatched to the scene from Hamilton."

The Tauranga-based TECT Trustpower Rescue helicopter was called and in the end was able to winch the man out from the bush.

He was then taken to hospital in an unknown condition.

-Stuff/Phillipa Yalden