Tight squeeze on stairs of Scott Monument prompts shake-up in admissions
ONLY 24 people per hour will be allowed to climb the stairs of the Scott Monument in Edinburgh as part of a major shake-up of visitor attendance.
Officials ordered crowd-control measures amid concerns about overcrowding on the cramped stairwells of the landmark.
Due to take effect in June, the new policy means visitors will no longer need to squeeze past each other on their way up and down the 288 steps.
However, visitors will be charged more to ascend to the top of the stone monument – £8 rather than the current £5 – while those wishing to reach the first floor will pay £6.
A spokesman for the City of Edinburgh Council said: “The majority of reviews we receive are positive, but where we’ve experienced negative feedback it’s been about congestion in the upper levels. The biggest issue is meeting other visitors coming up and down the stairs, as there is very limited space to pass by.
“We’ll be restricting the number of visitors to the top of the monument by having maximum tour sizes of 12 visitors. And by conducting visitors from level one to the top, we will be ensuring that none pass by each other on the stairs in the upper levels.”