Island holiday home owners taking ferries in breach of lockdown
Holiday home owners are sneaking onto ferries to visit their island properties despite a continuing ban on such travel, The Scotsman has learned.
Calmac expects more will attempt to travel, especially on its Clyde routes, because of the good weather this weekend.
Property owners have been showing Calmac staff utility bills to try to prove they live on Arran or other islands.
One Arran caravan owner said holiday home owners were crossing to the island from Claonaig to Lochranza.
She said: “There are quite a number of these people who have slipped on to the island.
“They should be hunted down and sent packing as they are compromising the safety of the islanders and breaking the lockdown.”
Acalmacspokespersonsaid: “As has been the case since lockdown began, our staff ask people travelling on all routes if their journey is essential and ask them for proof of either island residency or essential worker status.
“There has always been an element of trust and responsibility involved in this and we are following Scottish Government guidelines in that regard.
“Calmac staff hold no enforcement powers and cannot act as the police.
“We continue to ask people to respect the guidelines, which state that travel to the islands should be for essential purposes only.”
Director of operations Robert Morrison added: “As the First Minister made very clear yesterday, travel to islands continues to be for essential reasons only. They are not open for recreational purposes and people trying to board for a day trip will be turned away.
“Likewise, people with island second homes should not be travelling and we would ask them to be responsible before trying to board.
“The good weather may tempt people to get out and about, but I would urge everyone to continue to follow government guidelines and stay away from the islands.”
Police Scotland Chief Inspector Ian Graham said: “Local officers remain in regular contact with Calmac, which already has procedures for ensuring travel is compliant with the restrictions.
“Our officers will continue to engage with the public, explain the legislation and guidance and encourage compliance. We will use enforcement as a last resort only where there is a clear breach of the legislation.”
Meantime, new Police Scotland figures showed the number of people fined for lockdown infringements has topped 3,000, with 252 over the last week.
There were 30 more arrests, bringing the total to 227.