Anger as campers cut down trees for firewood on NC500

ANGRY Highland residents have taken to social media after discovering freshly cut tree stumps alongside firepits on the NC500 route.

One local in the “NC500 The Dirty Truth” Facebook group claimed to have found three firepits this weekend despite the threat of wildfires in the hot weather. Sharing photos of the finds along the west of the popular driving route, he wrote: “Wildfires at the moment are a real danger.

“However it seems on the NC500 some don’t either care or think about their actions. These are three fresh fire pits with freshly cut trees for firewood I came across this morning whilst out west. “Utter disgrace. Not only are people harming the environment, but the fire risk is very high at the moment. ”

“Simply unfathomable,” Mary King in response.

On Saturday, the Scottish Fire and rescue Service issued a warning for an extreme risk of wildfire for parts of northern Scotland. Early yesterday, wrote firefighters spent hours tackling a wildfire near Aberdeen. Around 100 square metres of gorse was alight. Firefighters extinguished the blaze and left the scene at around 4.50am.

Group commander Niall MacLennan, an SFRS wildfire tactical adviser, said: “The risk of wildfire is very real.”