A TOURIST board has been criticised by a senior member of Scotland's busiest mountain rescue team for underestimating the dangers of Britain's highest mountain in its 1999 holiday brochure, writes William Tinning.

Mr John Stevenson, deputy leader of Lochaber mountain rescue team, claims the Highlands of Scotland Tourist Board's publication - Freedom of the Highlands - ''lulls people into a false sense of security'' by describing the rugged track up the mountain as ''the tourist path to Ben Nevis''.

For several years, the Lochaber team has been trying to make casual walkers and ramblers more aware of the difficulties - and dangers - of tackling Ben Nevis in a day's jaunt. It takes the average walker seven hours to complete the walk to the top and back, and the weather is often very changeable.

Mr Stevenson claims a colour picture accompanying an article in the publication shows walkers ''on the path to the summit'', at a point near the foot of the 4406ft mountain, which makes the tough trek look like a saunter.

He is concerned people who don't know the ben and its moods could underestimate its difficulties when they read tourist publications and guidebooks which state there is a ''tourist path''.

Mr Stevenson, a member of the rescue team for the past 20 years, said: ''There isn't. It's a very tough, rock-strewn mountain track, often slippery with rain, and with sheer or steep edges in several places.''

He said he and his colleagues were called out at least once a month to help day trippers on the so-called ''tourist path'' who suffer a number of problems, including broken ankles, damaged knees, heat exhaustion, hypothermia, and heart attacks.

Mr Stevenson said: ''The picture in the Highlands of Scotland Tourist Board brochure makes it look a lot easier than it is. If the photographer had gone up as far as the 1500ft point he would have seen a different picture - with the track deteriorating to the extent that walkers have to pick their way past boulders, across gullies, and over burns in spate.''

Mr Stevenson said he and his colleagues would continue to press home the need for everyone connected with the local tourist trade to impress on visitors that the route up Ben Nevis was a ''tortuous mountain track''.

Mr David Noble, chief executive of the Highlands of Scotland Tourist Board, said the concerns of the rescue team would be taken on board: ''It would be remiss of us not to mention the highest mountain in the UK as being a feature of the Fort William and Lochaber area.

''However, we certainly will take the mountain rescue team's advice in future about dropping the term 'tourist path' if they feel it is misleading.''