Rescued climbers broke Covid rules

Two men, who breached Covid restrictions to travel from Oban to climb a munro in Glencoe last week, before having to be rescued, were issued with fixed penalty notices by police.

Two men, who breached Covid restrictions to travel from Oban to climb a munro in Glencoe last week, before having to be rescued, were issued with fixed penalty notices by police.

The duo, aged 21 and 27, got into difficulty on Hogmanay when they were descending Buachaille Etive Mòr in fading light.

One of the men injured a leg, which resulted in 25 members of Glencoe Mountain Rescue Team (MRT) attending on foot to locate the men and safely help them off the hill, assisted by police.

The injured man was taken by land ambulance to hospital for assessment. During the rescue, a member of Glencoe MRT suffered an injury which required medical assessment.

Inspector Kevin Macleod from Highlands and Islands Police Division said: ‘The men had travelled from Oban to hike this route and found themselves in difficultly as the light was fading at 3.25pm when police and MRT were called.

‘The rescue took 108 man hours and the team stood down at 7.30pm.

‘Both men, aged 21 and 27, were issued with fixed penalty notices for breaching travel regulations.

‘We continue to ask people to take personal responsibility to do the right thing and remember the purpose of these measures is to aid the collective effort to protect the NHS and save lives by preventing the Covid-19 virus from spreading.’

Andy Neilson, Glencoe MRT team leader, said: ‘We will always continue to provide the vital MRT service that we are committed to, however, the volunteers assisting the men did feel vulnerable due to the inevitable close contact required and we have to prioritise the health of our members in order to continue to provide this vital service.’