Rings prequel scouts eye up Scots locations

A NEW big budget Lord of the Rings prequel could be filmed in Loch Lomond, according to reports.

Producers for a new TV show are said to have been undercover at Balloch Castle Country Park, scouting out locations for filming.

Staff working for streaming giant Amazon, who will finance the show, also visited Skye, Perthshire and Loch Lomond.

According to reports, producers posed as tourists to speak to local communities and see the landscape for themselves.

They also visited Portree on the Isle of Skye, Dunskey Castle and Portpatrick in the south-west and Scourie in the north-west.

The locations could feature in the new prequel to the classic trilogy, which has the biggest budget ever for a TV series.