Five of the friends in good spirits before they set off

Three carloads who left the village of Rowen, Conwy, on Sunday afternoon were eventually towed out early on Monday.

They mistook a sign for walkers and ended up by a wall down a steep slope above the village of Llanfairfechan.

Mountain rescuers were called but were unable to help, and the crew were finally pulled free by local farmers.

We won't do it again Todd Thornberry, who was celebrating his 21st birthday

The friends travelled to the top of the hill at Rowen before driving through a gateway onto an old Roman road which took them over the mountainside.

Todd Thornberry, who was spending the weekend celebrating his 21st birthday with a group of friends, said that about 4pm on Sunday they decided to try to reach the main road, the A55.

"We mistook a walkers' sign for a road sign for Llanfairfechan and ended up at a dead end on a very steep drop."

A NICE AFTERNOON DRIVE? Sunday, 2pm: The group leave Rowen and take old Roman Road into the mountain 4.20pm: They decide to find the A55 and spot a (walkers') sign for Llanfairfechan 4.40pm: They get to dead end down steep slope 6pm: Mountain rescuers are alerted Monday, 1.30am: The friends are towed out by farmers

The seven were uninjured and of the three vehicles - a VW Polo, an Astra van and a Toyota Hilux - the only damage was a slight oil leak in one of them.

"We'd like to thank the farmers - it was their knowledge of the land which helped to get us out," Mr Thornberry added.

"We won't do it again," said Todd Thornberry, who was spending the weekend celebrating his 21st birthday with a group of friends.

One farmer involved in the rescue, Liam Jones, said it was "very rare" for vehicles to become stuck on the path, which was usually used by walkers.

'Very steep slope'

"We pulled them out using a tractor and a four-wheel drive. It was quite a job," he added.

Chris Lloyd, from the Ogwen Valley Mountain Rescue Team, said the team had deployed 10 people as they were not sure at first what had happened.

The VW Polo had earlier gone through a stream

"There were no injuries and we left them after the farmer offered to tow them out.

"They had travelled down the track to just above the golf course in Llanfairfechan about 500ft (152m) up the hillside on a very steep slope.

"We used four vehicles to get to them and we struggled to get back to the top, even though one of our vehicles used snow chains to try and get a grip in the mud.

"We shouldn't really have been called out," Mr Lloyd added.

"It is purely a walking route, and even the Roman road they used for part of the way should be purely for access."