Note to car thief: I’ll be away hillwalking for hours!

THIEVES are targeting cars parked by hillwalkers who leave a note in the windscreen indicating their route and expected time of return.

It is a common safety precaution but police say it also tips off criminals that the owner will be away for hours.

The warning comes after two vehicles were targeted in Achlean car park in Glen Feshie, near Kingussie, Inverness-shire, earlier this month. Now mountaineering writer and broadcaster Cameron McNeish is urging people to stop leaving such information on windscreens as a way of giving rescue teams an idea of where to search in case of problems.

Instead, he advised walkers to tell people where they are going and when they will be back. He added: ‘I’m saddened and very concerned car thieves are now operating in walkers’ car parks. I haven’t come across this in 40-odd years.’

Climbing and hillwalking organisation Mountaineering Scotland said thefts from walkers’ car were ‘extremely rare’.

A spokesman said route maps could be displayed in cars by lone walkers if there was no other option – but the best system was to tell a friend or family the plans.

Police preventions and interventions officer Constable Keri Jones said: ‘If car owners are not able to take their property out of the car they should at least hide it away from prying eyes and lock it out of sight in the boot.

‘While this is not a fail-safe deterrent against crime, it denies the would-be thief the opportunity to window shop.’

Police inquiries into the incidents at Achlean are continuing.

Anyone with information is asked to call 101, or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.