By Samantha Castle, Reporter

Covering the Conwy Valley patch often includes reports of search and rescues by the two mountain rescue associations covering the countryside and mountain ranges of Conwy and Snowdonia. Ogwen Valley and Llanberis rescue teams both have their work cut out as they are called out on a daily basis, more so at weekends and peak holiday times.

In this week's Issue (you'll have to buy the paper if you want to read it!) I've tried to emphasise, on behalf of the teams, that more and more people (not always local, I hasten to add) are relying on the mountain rescue volunteers to help them when they get lost, sprain an ankle or are trapped by sudden bad weather.

These rescue attempts often involve over 15 trained volunteers, called out at the drop of a hat regardless of what they are doing, and quite often the RAF Valley 22 squadron helicopter is involved too. And this free service is almost entirely funded by public donations.

Unfortunately for the rescue teams, adventurous tourists think they can scale the North Wales mountain ranges armed with just a picnic, flip flops and a mobile phone, and according to recent figures, 60% of people who call for help aren't even injured.

Often regarded as the fourth emergency service, the rescue teams' resources have more recently been pushed to extremes as they are frequently relied upon to assist the fire service and police force with missing person searches and searches for evidence in areas with difficult terrain.

So it's great to see North Wales Police has developed the Mountainsafe scheme to support the rescue teams' diverse workload. Mountainsafe has been created in association with North Wales Mountain Rescue Association and Snowdonia National Park Authority to help novice walkers (like the group of teenagers who decided to take an evening stroll up Snowdon last month and - surprise, surprise - had to be rescued!) who are keen to learn how to navigate their way safely and successfully across local mountain ranges. The first course, run by Tim Bird, proved highly successful and another has been planned for October.

Also covered this week are shocking figures supplied by North Wales Police which show the disappointingly high number of £60 fixed penalty notices given to dangerous motorists who continue to endanger themselves and other road users by insisting on using their mobile phone while driving. These idiots who continue to flout the law, which came into effect in February, have been charged over £17,000 in fines and been "awarded" almost 900 penalty points to date.

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