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A cigarette machine is among items a Scottish hotel is hoping will be returned during an amnesty for light-fingered guests who have picked up unofficial 'souvenirs'.

The Holiday Inn Express in Greenock is one of two Scottish hotels which will allow people who have pilfered items from their rooms to return them this month - no questions asked.

Predictably the most common objects pinched are towels but sneaky residents at the Greenock premises also managed to make off with a cigarette machine.

Amnesty: Rosslea Hall in Helensburgh is one of two hotels taking part in the initiative

Rosslea Hall Hotel in Helensburgh is also hoping guilty guests will come clean and hand over their ill-gotten gains.

Those who do hand over their spoils will also be helping charity as £1 will be donated to MacMillan Cancer Support for every object returned.

The hotels are among a dozen across the UK taking part in the initiative organised by hotel management firm at Redefine|BDL Hotels.

The top five most commonly pinched items are towels, pens, mugs, teaspoons and remote controls.
Room key cards are also popular, with hotel staff reporting that they are most commonly taken in the winter and used to scrape icy car windscreens.

Packing it in: It seems hotel guests are stuffing more than their clothes into their suitcases

More unusual items stolen include patio furniture, a luggage trolley, a full set of bedding including pillows, a cereal dispenser, a front desk bell, a chilli plant and a flat screen TV.

The hotel group estimates that around 11,700 towels, 9,000 teaspoons and 133,100 pens are taken each year.

Mary Curtin, Redefine/BDL Hotels group accommodation services manager, said: 'Over the years we've noticed that there are definitely some favourite items to pocket when staying in our hotels, and we've come across some pretty bizarre ones too.

'We thought it would be good to offer past guests the chance to own up and return their 'souvenirs' to reception throughout June - consequence free.

'Not only will they be easing their guilt, they'll be helping us to raise money for our nominated charity, Macmillan.

'We look forward to being reunited with some of the things that have gone missing over the years - who knows, we might come across some items we didn't even know were gone.'