WORLD: Families dubbed 'idiots' for getting lost in Outback

Two British families who caused a major emergency by getting lost in the Australian bush have been branded a pack of fools.

With the search for another missing English backpacker, 19-year-old Londoner Jamie Neale, in the same area being scaled down after 10 fruitless days, two British housewives took a stroll with their children close to nightfall on Saturday.

Among them was a baby and grandmother aged 64. The group, who had no walking clothing or equipment, took a wrong turn and spent 12 hours in the freezing cold, praying for rescue, which came just before dawn yesterday.

After a night in the Blue Mountains near Sydney, the two families told how they survived by singing and dancing.

The alarm was raised at midnight by Englishman Kevin Weaver after his wife Angela, children Thomas, nine, Henry, four, and Molly, one, failed to return to their Springwood home. They had set off for Fairy Dell with the children's grandmother Jocelyn Salisbury and British guest Felicity Moore and her children Saskia, 11, and Alfie, nine.

"I didn't know exactly where the guys had gone," Mr Weaver said. "But they all came out smiling and singing. Molly was properly rugged up and she is still breast-fed so as far as she knew it was just a night out."

The women, who hugged their rescuers, huddled together under a small rock ledge for warmth until they were found by police, dogs and a helicopter.

They were criticised by police, rescuers and the premier of New South Wales, Nathan Rees, who said the late afternoon walk was idiotic: "You shouldn't take risks. It doesn't take much for something to go wrong - a broken ankle in an area where there is no mobile phone coverage for example, can lead to tragedy."

In the nearby town of Katoomba searchers continued to look for Jamie Neale, missing since 3 July.

Police will today consider scaling back the search, which has been joined by his stepfather, Richard Cass, from Muswell Hill."We have not lost hope of finding this young man alive but as every day passes it does become less likely that we will do so," a police spokesman said.