Holiday makers in caravans are being warned of sleeping gas attacks.
The Camping and Caravanning club urged tourists to fit narcotic gas monitors to their vehicles and avoid spending the night at service stations.
Reports have been mounting about families who were drugged with sleeping gas piped into their motor homes before thieves broke in to snatch cash, passports, jewellery, credit cards, and mobile devices.
Initial reports were predominately concerning vehicles parked in overnight rest stops along motorways in France.
Victims report that they were informed by French police that East European gangs were responsible and were moving gradually south from Paris.
Heresay evidence says that similar robberies have been carried out in Spain.
Narcotic gas detectors, which sound an alarm if ether gas is detected, can cost £99.
However, the Royal College of Anaesthetists said it was dubious that gas could be responsible. “It would not be possible to render someone unconscious by blowing ether, chloroform or any ...volatile anaesthetic agents through the window of a motor home without their knowledge, even if they were sleeping.”
It said that ether is so pungent that it could be detected days later. It is also difficult to administer. Other agents would require large quantities out of the financial reach for the average thief, even if it was possible to obtain them.
