Teacher 'led girls up mountain in trainers and skirts'

A teacher who led 39 London schoolgirls up a Scottish mountain in skirts and trainers, with only bin bags for protection, was today accused of putting their lives at risk.

Rescue chief John Allen said: "It is one of the worst cases, if not the worst, I have come across of a group being ill-prepared. It's horrifying. They broke every rule in the mountaineering book that was ever written."

The girls, aged 16 and 17, became disorientated when mist descended near the summit of Meall a' Bhuachaille, in the Cairngorms, yesterday afternoon.

The woman teacher at the Beth Jacob Seminary for Girls, an Orthodox Jewish school in Stoke Newington, had no map, no compass and had to borrow a pupil's mobile phone to call 999.

Mr Allen said he was unable to talk the group off the 2,500ft peak, even though the mist lifted after an hour, as they did not know their position. After problems with mobile phone signals, 10 rescuers were sent to locate the party.

Mr Allen said the trip could have had fatal consequences, adding: "We were appalled to discover they were all wearing skirts and trainers. Some had bin liners and plastic sheets as waterproofs."

None of the girls required medical treatment and they were on their way back to London today after the rest of the trip was cancelled.

Rabbi Benyomin Dunner, head of Beth Jacob, apologised, thanked rescuers and promised an internal inquiry.