Disbelief as car mats embedded with nails discovered on icy Highlands road

Police have issued an appeal following the discovery of two car mats embedded with nails on a road in the northeast Scottish Highlands.

The car mats, each of which were deliberately laced with more than a dozen nails, were found on the A99 south of Wick on Saturday evening.

Conditions on sections of the A99, which has previously been named as one of the most dangerous roads in Scotland, were already treacherous due to recent icy weather.

Fortunately, no-one was injured prior to the discovery of the two car mats.

Police Scotland have issued an appeal for further information into the incident.

In a statement, a force spokesperson said: “Two car mats with nails embedded in them were deliberately placed on #A99 south of Wick between Hempriggs straight and Thrumster Village on Saturday, 2 January, between 7.55pm and 8.15pm.

"Thankfully, no vehicles drove over them but the consequences could have been serious.

"Please call 101 quoting reference NJ/6/21 if you know who was responsible or have any helpful information.”

Police Scotland say the car mats were laced with nails and deliberately placed on the A99 road near Wick on Saturday evening.

A number of users shared their disgust at the find on the Highland & Islands Police Division Facebook page.

One person wrote: “Such a stupid thing to do. The consequences could have been devastating.”

A second concerned person said: “Perfect example of how some people have no regard for human life. What’s wrong with people?”

While another person fumed: “The roads were extremely dangerous with black ice last night for some idiot to put peoples lives in danger on top of the already dangerous conditions.

"l hope they find out who did this. Putting peoples lives at risk - idiots.”

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