Lay-bys in the Highlands are to be kitted out with trowels – in a bid to tackle outdoor toileting.
Community councillors want to put 150 garden tools at roadside stops around tourist hotspots near Ullapool and Dundonnell.
The route is part of the popular North Coast 500, which has seen an influx of visitors as Brits flock to the Highlands for staycations.
Fed-up locals living along the NC500 route have already hit out at wild campers trashing beauty spots and leaving rubbish behind.
The rural area’s lack of toilet facilities, combined with a sharp rise in visitors, caused an upsurge in people going to the loo in the countryside.
So far, 90 trowels have been ordered by Lochbroom Community Council, which has also printed visitor maps of toilet facilities at lay-bys.
Council chair Topher Dawson said the trowels will help visitors and locals who get caught short.
The community council has been granted £990 from the North Highland Initiative, which helped set up the North Coast 500 route.
Topher said: “It’s easy to get outraged about this but I actually feel sorry for visitors to the Highlands who need to do the toilet outdoors.
“Clearly, we’ve got more visitors than toilets.
“We’ve got about 60 or 70 miles of road in the area and there’s a gap of about 50 miles with no toilet at all.”
