How one careless tweet helped turn a beautiful beach into an open sewer ... and sparked an invasion that's left locals at war with tourists

Published: 22:01, 14 August 2026 | Updated: 22:09, 14 August 2026 Three years ago, an excitable tourist from Norfolk took to social media to rave about the spectacular Scottish beach she had just discovered. She insisted it was a ‘must-add’ to the itinerary of anyone setting out on the North Coast 500 driving route. With its crystalline waters, white sands and gorgeous setting in an amphitheatre of pink cliffs, Ceannabeinne Beach in Sutherland was, in her estimation, ‘a beautiful untouched paradise’ which deserved far greater recognition among the tens of thousands who complete the 516-mile Highland circuit every year. Her comments were eagerly picked up by a newspaper which called the bay a ‘hidden gem waiting to be discovered’ and ‘one of the country’s best-kept secrets’. Well, the secret is certainly out today – with ruinous consequences. The ‘untouched paradise’ is over-run by campers and motor homes during the summer months – so much so the area behind the beach is widely described as an open ‘sewer’. Worse, those living nearby report that when they venture out to ask visitors to show some respect for the landscape, the response is no longer an apology. It is a barrage of abuse. Between the swearwords, the phrase ‘right to roam’ is often invoked. It is the access-all-areas pass which, in many visitors’ eyes, translates as ‘do whatever you please’. Unsurprisingly for a small beach in the far north of Scotland, miles from the nearest village, it is not exactly replete with infrastructure. There are no public toilets, no shops or cafes. Locals have been left aghast by tourists' reckless behaviour at the picturesque Ceannabeinne Beach But there are fragile dune and machair areas – now regularly trampled over by unthinking campers. Mysteriously, the signs imploring them not to do so have been removed. This summer, Ceannabeinne Beach has come to epitomise a vast sweep of the Highlands. All along the route of Scotland’s bucket list road trip there are self-entitled tourists and locals aghast at their behaviour. Little wonder many of the latter have decided the days of polite requests and gentle reminders are over. They want prosecution. It is against this backdrop that the Scottish parliament has been challenged to reframe the terms of the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003 – passed by the Labour and Lib Dem executive and adored by the SNP – which locals increasingly feel offers carte blanche to wreak havoc. The Act gave visitors the right to camp on privately owned land and came coupled with the Scottish Outdoor Access Code which spelled out best practice for visitors. But none of it was legally enforceable. In effect, they were optional rules of engagement with the countryside. A petition launched by Robin Pettigrew from Lochcarron in Wester Ross now urges the removal of the optional element and calls for strict laws which campaigners believe are long overdue. They would impose a ban on tourists in motorhomes parking up wherever they please for the night – such as in the spot offering the best view of Ceannabeinne Beach, as hundreds do every year. Instead, if they were determined to sleep in their vehicle, they would be compelled to overnight in designated camping zones. A dedicated team of rangers would be given the powers to fine people violating the code. Currently they can only advise. Mr Pettigrew, an administrator of the Facebook group NC500 The Dirty Truth, says the ‘massive’ environmental impact of the current toothless system is already clear from Highland rangers’ reports. They show that, in the four months the team of 18 were operating last year, they recorded 6,428 incidents of outdoor toileting, discovered 45 abandoned tents, filled 2,100 bags of litter, dealt with 638 waste and fly-tipping issues, logged 2,681 fire marks and put out 236 unsafe fires. There were also 269 ‘negative’ interactions with the public which were ‘uncomfortable, distressing and possibly threatening’. If this reads like a checklist of the litany of local frustrations which have surrounded the North Coast 500 since its launch in 2015 it is hardly a complete one. It doesn’t mention the tourists relieving themselves in residents’ gardens or emptying their vehicles’ toilet cassettes into public lavatories, blocking them and forcing their closure for repair – or worse, pouring them into watercourses. Nor does it cover motorhome holidaymakers’ often dangerous and inconsiderate driving or the air of yobbish entitlement which infuriates locals – such as spending the night in single track road passing places or even in school yards. Their occupants are often seen outside their vans in villages, pottering around in their pyjamas as if it is the most normal thing in the world. This week two Highland MSPs backed the call for stronger enforcement against anti-social tourists while a third – somewhat predictably – equivocated. This was the SNP’s regional Highlands and Islands MSP Maree Todd who argued the problems were caused by a ‘small minority’ and that the situation had improved since the low point of the Covid pandemic. It was a response many facing the day-to-day problems of overtourism in the Highlands found both complacent and disappointing – yet entirely in keeping with the SNP’s ideological mantra of open access. In theory this latter-day repudiation of the historical inequities of private estates may sound democratised and egalitarian. In practice, campaigners argue, it is turning Scotland’s rural landscape into a vast, unmanaged theme park where, invariably, locals are left picking up after the visitors. Opposition politicians this week gave a more candid representation of life on the ground. Andrew Baxter, Lib Dem MSP for Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch, says he will support the petition if it is discussed in parliament. He told the Press and Journal: ‘Too often, I hear council officers and civil servants say “We need to educate people to behave responsibly.” This has gone beyond education as it is clear this is not enough. ‘Regrettably we are at a stage when we need robust enforcement, with fines, as a deterrent. But that requires investment in a ranger service, with real powers to enforce.’ Mr Baxter added: ‘I’ve challenged camper van drivers who have parked off-road on fragile peatland to receive a volley of swearing in return and to be told they have “the right to roam”. ‘You don’t have a right to roam in a camper van that is destroying our environment.’ The layby next to Ceannabeinne Beach overrun with campervans Meanwhile his Lib Dem colleague David Green, who represents Caithness, Sutherland and Ross, told the same newspaper: ‘It is simply not acceptable that farmers and business owners are left footing the bill for clearing up other people’s waste. ‘Instead, we need stronger enforcement powers to ensure those responsible pay for the mess they create.’ Mr Green highlighted the abject failure of the Highland Campervan and Motorhome Scheme as evidence of the need for change. There could hardly be a more embarrassing example of the shortcomings of the softly-softly approach. It was in 2024 that Highland Council introduced a £40 pass giving motorhome visitors seven days of access to many of its own parking areas along the route as well as the use of showers in municipal facilities. Launched as a means of coaxing the camper vans away from environmentally sensitive beauty spots, the scheme would use the proceeds to fund infrastructure and biodiversity projects. It was initially expected to raise £500,000 in its first financial year but it was roundly ignored by tourists. The target was later reduced to just £20,000 – a 96 per cent drop – and yet in the space of 11 months the take was less than £8,000. If council bosses were surprised, many locals found it all too predictable. ‘Why pay when you can stay for free?’ asks Margaret Meek, from Kinlochbervie, Sutherland, a co-founder of the Facebook group The Land Weeps. She adds: ‘Did you know that numbers of motorhomes visiting Scotland has exploded in recent years, but the numbers of people staying on campgrounds has declined?’ Her view is echoed by Mr Pettigrew who rejects the notion that more campsites and more waste and toilet facilities are the answer. Many of the existing campsites are far from full – and there are multiple examples of motorhome occupants trying to use their facilities for free. ‘It happens all the time because people don’t want to pay,’ he says. Earlier this year Ann Edwards, who runs a small campsite for RVs in Golspie, Sutherland, told the Mail she had had to install digital locks to stop non-payers wandering in and using her toilets and showers. She said: ‘These entitled people have been helping themselves to our services on our site … they’ll even come and throw their waste in our bins, which we obviously have to pay to have emptied.’ Mrs Edwards, who is chairman of the Highland Caravan and Campsites Association, added: ‘One of our members in Helmsdale has developed his own site and right next door is a council car park and they just nip over the fence and start using his services as well. And that’s happening all round Scotland.’ It is a very different story in England and Wales where there is no general right of access to privately owned land – that would be trespassing – and overnight sleeping in vehicles in public spaces is outlawed by way of fixed penalty fines. Iceland changed its law in 2015, making it illegal to park or camp overnight in any motorised vehicle outside of an officially registered campsite. Both the police and rangers have the power to issue on-the-spot fines. In New Zealand motorhome holidaymakers can park for free in designated areas providing they are in a certified self-contained vehicle with an internally usable toilet. Without one they must pay to camp in an official site or face a stiff fine. For now, Scotland persists with its free for all – or, as some in the Highlands are now calling it, the ‘Wild West approach’. Mrs Meek tells the Mail she helped set up The Land Weeps in 2020 because she ‘naively thought that if we gathered evidence of poor behaviour and took that evidence to government officials, there would be some action.’ She adds: ‘After watching the political scene around tourism these past six years I have concluded that there is no appetite on the part of the government to control motorhomes or any overtourism. I think that people have become resigned to it and think that nothing will ever be done about it.’ Living just 20 miles from Ceannabeinne Beach, she knows rather more about it than the wide-eyed Norfolk tourist from 2023. Far from being undiscovered, it was mobbed by campers for years until Highland Council stepped in and fenced off the machair to allow the area to recover.  She says: ‘There was a sign saying the land needed to repair itself and no camping was allowed. It looked hopeful, but now the sign is gone and the tents are springing up again. What has gone wrong? ‘I believe a local is going to put up a new sign himself.’ Andrew Baxter, Lib Dem MSP for Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch, says 'robust enforcement' is needed to protect the rural landscape Mrs Meek adds: ‘I agree with Andrew Baxter. We have moved beyond education. The rangers have been educating since the programme was first introduced in 2021. It is very frustrating for them to be reduced to giving advice and handing out leaflets when they should be able to enforce.’ If there is frustration with the SNP’s lack of action, it doesn’t stop there. The company which holds the commercial rights to the route’s name and identity, North Coast 500 Ltd, has Scotland’s richest resident, Anders Holch Povlsen, as its majority shareholder. The Danish billionaire is also the largest private landowner in Scotland and an advocate of rewilding. Where is his voice in all this? ‘I have never understood why the man who is so passionate about rewilding is content to allow parts of the country to be damaged by poor behaviour,’ says Mrs Meek. She adds: ‘They have consistently said that is up to the government to sort the problem. I feel that it should be part of their business model to take responsibility for damage.’ A spokesman for North Coast 500 Ltd said the company was committed to helping tourism thrive while protecting communities and landscapes. ‘We know that responsible camping, waste disposal and pressure on local infrastructure are major issues for communities. ‘These challenges extend well beyond the NC500, and we support efforts to keep countryside codes effective and up to date where needed.’ The spokesman added: ‘We are focused on practical solutions: promoting our Visitor Pledge to encourage “leave no trace” travel, working closely with local communities, and supporting government efforts to improve infrastructure across the route.’ The corporate plea to leave no trace will carry a bitter irony for many. For them it is a maxim long-since trampled underfoot or squelched under the tyres of motorhome convoys. Entitled tourism’s traces are everywhere – and they are rapidly becoming scars.