Police called as visitors descend on Fife beauty spot despite lockdown

Police had to be called to disperse traffic at a Fife beauty spot over the weekend after scores of motorists ignored the lockdown, causing tailbacks and gridlock on country lanes.

The approach road to Falkland Hill was made completely impassable after many motorists abandoned their vehicles on grass verges and areas normally used to allow vehicles to pass safely.

Conditions were further hampered due to the road being covered in ice in many parts forcing many to park away from the car park for fear of getting stranded.

The problem became so bad police officers were called to East Lomond car park on Sunday afternoon to disperse visitors after the approach road was completely blocked.

One onlooker said the road been turned into an “impromptu car park”, while another described the situation as “carnage”.

News of the gridlock resulted in many taking to social media to complain about those seemingly disregarding the Scottish Government’s lockdown message to stay at home.

Evelyn Sinclair Loughlin said: “People are just selfish putting themselves and more importantly others at risk because of their close proximity to each other.”

Meanwhile, Kellie Munro, wrote: “It does make me a bit mad.

“I’ve not left my house not once since Christmas as I’m high-risk and terrified of catching this new strain as I’ve already had Covid and trust me it was horrendous.

“Maybe some of these people would think twice if they themselves caught it.

“I know what the rules say but common sense should prevail.”

The area around Falkland suffered similar problems during the first lockdown in 2020 with car-loads of visitors flocking to the area.

The drastic increase of people resulted in Falkland

Estate being forced to temporarily close its car park for six days in May in a desperate bid to reduce the number of out-of-thearea visitors going to the historic Falkland Castle and village, normally one of Fife’s most popular attractions.

A spokesman for Police Scotland said: “We received a call at around 3.20pm on Sunday January 24 after police were made aware of a number of vehicles at a car park near to Falkland hill, blocking the road.

“Officers attended and provided advice and guidance to motorists

“We are not aware of any fixed penalty notices being issued.”

People are just selfish

GRIDLOCK: The approach road to Falkland Hill became blocked at the weekend after dozens of motorists flocked to the area.