Tourists travelling across the northern coast of Scotland by following the NC500, which has been dubbed Scotland’s Route 66, have been so desperate to visit its seaside towns they have resorted to camping in graveyard car parks.
The tourists have been slammed by furious locals and branded “inappropriate” and “disrespectful” after gorgeous and peaceful seaside towns have been disturbed by the behaviour.
The NC500, also called the North Coast 500, is a picturesque 516-mile journey encircling the northern coast of Scotland.
It starts and concludes at Inverness Castle and beautifully connects numerous attractions in the picturesque Scottish Highlands.
Now locals have pressured authorities to take action on those parking in unauthorised spaces when touring the NC500.
Resident Muriel Eaton, who currently lives in Beuly, a town near Inverness, has expressed her strong disapproval of drivers who park in cemetery parking lots for overnight camping as she spent her early years in the village of Bettyhill, located close to Tongue.
Despite living in Beauly now, she often returns to her hometown because four generations of her family rest peacefully in Strathy Cemetery.
She told the Herald: “Before the NC500 was created you would maybe get one person doing it and it wouldn’t be every day or every week, it would be one person once in a while.
“Since the NC500 there’s been up to 20 motorhomes and campervans in the car park.
“This is a carpark that was put there for the cemetery.
“Anyone visiting graves or going to a funeral has to walk past folk enjoying themselves on holiday and sometimes you can’t get a space to park.”
Muriel added: “It [the NC500] has done some good for businesses but the majority of people in the Highlands don’t work in the tourism industry and therefore don’t benefit from it.”
The growing issue of overnight camping is not limited to just one cemetery, as other towns have struggled with similar issues, including a cemetery on the Isle of Harris, promoting the creation of a petition.
A spokesperson representing Highland Council strongly condemned the actions of tourists who use these grounds for overnight parking, branding it “entirely inappropriate and totally disrespectful”.
This has prompted discussions to implement parking restrictions that would enable the imposition of fines and penalties on unauthorised vehicles.
