A BRITISH hiker spent a whole night lost on Calpe’s Peñon de Ifach trail before being rescued on Thursday afternoon.

The 48-year-old man lost his bearings halfway through the route and as night fell, he stayed there until the morning.

When daylight arrived, he still could not work out which way to go and called emergency services shortly before 1pm on Thursday.

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Given the steepness of the slope, a rescue team from the Alicante Provincial firefighters sent out its Alfa helicopter.

The Brit was was found less than two hours after he made the call for help.

He was then hoisted up to the craft and taken to the helipad in Calpe in good health.

Earlier this month, 17 British hikers were rescued in Almeria after becoming disorientated on a trail in the Sierra de Nijar.

A THIEF was seriously injured after his getaway car went into a canal at San Miguel de Salinas in Alicante province.

The man was taken to Torrevieja Hospital and a fire crew checked that nobody else was inside the vehicle.

The drama unfolded at around 4am on Thursday after he stole a cigarette vending machine from a service station.

A high-speed chase ensued as the San Miguel Policia Local pursed him along the Campoamor service road- parallel to the canal.

The narrow service route is prohibited to general traffic but is still used by many people used as a short cut between San Miguel and the Orihuela Costa.

On a sharp bend, the fleeing criminal lost control and his car went into the canal.

The Policia Local managed to rescue and then arrest the driver.

Firefighters confirmed nobody else was in the car and a local contractor was called in to winch the vehicle out of the canal.

The Guardia Civil investigation into the service station robbery is continuing to see if anybody else was involved.

The cigarette vending machine was recovered.

VALENCIAN president Carlos Mazon has announced a plan to fight the rising number of squatters in the region.

Mazon said on Thursday that measures will be introduced to `prevent, combat and curtail the activities of squatters’.

1,800 complaints about illegal occupations were filed in the Valencian Community last year compared to just 277 in 2010.

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A ‘care centre’ for victims will be introduced to offer legal and psychological support.

Personalised and professional advice from lawyers, psychologists and social workers for owners will be set up via the existing network of 37 crime victim assistance offices and the 66 Justiprop municipal offices.

A new dedicated 012 telephone number will also be available for victims to make complaints and to access help.

Carlos Mazon said: “Most of the problems involve people who have a second home and there are cases of elderly owners who rent out their property to cover nursing homes costs but tenants then stop paying and become squatters.”

He explained that anybody who is the victim of squatting will be helped by regional offices ‘straight-away’.

Another measure will be the development of anti-occupation protocols for police and public employees including drafting a guide on how to stop squatters and act against them.

Mazon also mentioned special training starting this month aimed at regional and local police officers to offer immediate help.

A protocol will be enabled via the 112 emergency number to coordinate the police over their response to complaints and to go to homes ‘immediately’ to start an express eviction process.

They will also get instant access to a property registrar database to find out immediately who is the actual property owner.

Carlos Mazon emphasised that the regional government’s anti-squatting plan will use ‘the maximum powers’ it has to deal with the problem.

He added that ‘much more must be done’ and that such measures are down to the national government and Congress.