AMONG the hazards faced by walkers in the countryside - bulls in fields, blocked paths, ankle-twisting ruts, greasy rocks etc, - is one that has nothing to do with the countryside.

Car theft. Or, more accurately, theft from cars.

In our national parks especially, many an uplifting day on the hills ends with the distress of a ransacked and damaged vehicle. Though not yet added to such standard advice to walkers as "carry a whistle and compass and spare warm clothing", choosing a safe parking place is now the vital first step in a country walk. For me this has meant abandoning various isolated places from which I used to walk in favour of parking in villages.

But it is impossible fully to explore our wild landscapes, which are our prime walking landscapes, without sometimes starting in lonely places. So it is welcome news that three North Yorkshire policemen have mounted an operation that has brought a pair of car thieves to justice.

Having worked out an apparent pattern to thefts in the North York Moors, PCs Steve Leach and Ray Thwaites, of Helmsley, and their Malton colleague PC Martin Recchia, spent hours over the course of a week lying in wait at a car-theft blackspot between Hawnby and Osmotherley. From their concealed position they eventually filmed the thieves, who were caught by a patrol car as they sped home to Teesside.

Since the arrests, car theft in the area has plummeted by 60 per cent. Great. But hang on. The operation by the three PCs was carried out in their own time. They took the initiative after Ray Thwaites had dealt with a particularly upsetting car break-in.

The officers merit the highest praise. But to most people what they did will be a perfect example of what we, the public, expect our police to be doing in their working time. A system that, presumably, denied Ray Thwaites and his colleagues the chance to catch the thieves in their duty hours clearly needs looking at. Put it another way, whoever presides over this topsy-turvy situation deserves a kick in the pants.

The car thieves, by the way, have admitted their guilt but have yet to be sentenced.

'THE Queen leaves hospital, helped by the matron'' - BBC TV. Why wasn't she helped by her husband? And why wasn't Prince Philip at her side when she was admitted?

No reflection on their relationship. A peculiarity of our royals is that they are rarely accompanied by a close relative when admitted to, or discharged from, hospital. Sometimes days pass before a relative visits. The rest of us draw comfort and support from the presence of our nearest and dearest. Truly, our royals are weird.

NOTED here last week, the primrose that has been flowering in my garden since late November is not the most northerly to show its bright face six months out of season. A body called the UK Phenology Project, which monitors flowering dates via 14,000 volunteers, has had a report of a primrose in bloom in Alnwick. Bad news indeed for polar bears.

WHAT on earth does the second class Christmas stamp represent? It looks like a high-voltage electricity conductor. Of the Christmas spirit it has none.