Council officials in East Lothian have blasted illegal campers who flocked to a local beauty spot, turning a nearby WW2 tank block into a public toilet.
Countryside ranger discovered some 92 tents set up near Tyninghame in East Lothian.
The Daily Record reports the rangers saw just two camping groups obeying local bylaws, and they also found 21 irresponsible fire lit by campers.
Iconic WW2 anti-tank blocks had also been turned into a public toilet by campers.
East Lothian Council Countryside Rangers said: ‘We have been seeing an unprecedented number of people camping on our sites.
“In total we found over 150 tents along the East Lothian coast, and no doubt there were many more.
“This is way beyond what the sites can cope with but we know this isn’t an isolated occurrence.
“Only wild camping is permitted in the countryside - light-weight and done in small numbers. “Large tents and large groups are not wild camping. On Saturday, Tyninghame alone had 92 tents. Of these, 90 were camping illegally.
“That equated to roughly 300 people camping and that’s 300 people who will need to go to the toilet on a site with no facilities.
“The issues have shifted from litter to irresponsible fires and human waste. At Tyninghame we found 21 irresponsible fires.
“It is illegal to have a fire in a woodland and a ring of stones is not responsible, nor would it prevent a fire from spreading. Stones have been known to heat up and explode.
“Huge fires that could burn for days as well as fires left unattended. Having a fire in a woodland or grassland risks the fire spreading and also leaves a large scar.
“Of the estimated 300 campers, it was clear that most had not thought about how they would responsibly go to the toilet; the WW1 tank blocks have become toilet blocks; toilet paper and human waste everywhere.’
They added: “Only two groups were being completely responsible and were true wild campers. We spoke to all of them.
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“From chatting it was clear that most were not behaving like this through lack of concern for the environment, it was merely a lack of awareness of how to be responsible and leave no trace.”
One local woman told of how her dog had eaten human waste left behind. Karen Taylor wrote: “It's disgusting! I live in Dirleton and (granted my dog is disgusting) my dog ate human poo in the dunes at Yellowcraigs and vomited it up on the carpet at home.
“Such a delight for us to have to clean up after someone.”
