Farmers’ anger at ‘idiots’ on their land

Misuse of the countryside during Covid-19 lockdown prompts consequences

Farmers have slammed walkers flouting rules during daily exercise outings.

The Courier has been inundated with reports of people acting irresponsibly when out and about doing their daily exercise, ranging from instances of dog and even human fouling to people leaving gates open – leading to livestock managing to escape.

Coaltown of Wemyss farmer William Laird has had to resort to threatening to close off a local path if behaviour does not improve.

“Villagers are walking their dogs down a road which doesn’t get used and is now a walkway,” he said.

“As they walk their dogs they are filling up poo bags and throwing them in the field.”

Mr Laird added that calves could choke on the bags, while the contents could cause neospora in dairy and beef cattle, which causes abortion or stillbirth in animals.

“I’m putting up a sign giving the dog walker two or three days to clean it up, but if it’s not done I will block the road off so no people use it,” he warned.

“There are families using the road and the children might be infected as well.”

Stephen Melville, who runs Cuplahills Farm near Balmullo, said he had been forced to lock and wire gates closed as a result of some reckless actions earlier this week.

“Words cannot describe how frustrating it is farming during the current outbreak of coronavirus,” he said.

“We generally welcome the public, but only those who respect the countryside and those who live and work within it.

“The number of people using the tracks and paths through the Cuplahills has gone up enormously.

“Unfortunately, with the increase in numbers has come a rise in inconsiderate individuals and just plain idiots.

“Today, the last gate in our field near Logie crossroads leading up to the quarry had the gate into the neighbours’ fields left wide open.

“The horses escaped and the sheep were not going to be far behind.

“I don’t know if it was the same individual, but somebody or something also had a huge c*** beside the gate.

“But don’t worry, they decided to use six sheets of their stockpiled toilet roll to place on top of the excrement. Unbelievable”.

Mr Melville, who also has St Andrews Country Lodges, said other incidents included youths lighting fires in surrounding woodland and playing on playpark equipment, which is now out of bounds to the public.

“It is quite clear that there are quite a number of people exercising together that are not from the same families and are not social distancing,” he said.

“The guidance is there to protect everyone.

“Farms are dangerous places with large machinery operating. This is a busy time of year.

“Don’t get me wrong, most people are great and generally respectful, but as the number of non-regular visitors rise, the number of problem visitors seems to rise exponentially.”