A “DUMBASS” tourist in a motorhome completely blocked the only entrance to one of Scotland’s most important historical sites.
The Italian visitor was clearly warned not to drive the enormous vehicle through the narrow stone archway at Linlithgow Palace, West Lothian.
But rather than park in one of the offical car parks a few hundred metres away, the driver insisted on trying to squeeze through so he could stop next to the palace’s 15th Century walls.
Halfway through the passageway, the tourist lost his nerve and stopped, fearful of damaging the bodywork on his £40,000 vehicle.
And that prevented tourists on foot from getting in to the attraction for around 15 minutes as the driver gingerly reversed.
Paul King uploaded a picture of the incident, prompting a flood of abuse against the tourist, including suggestions that he should be euthanised.
Paul, 50, from Edinburgh, uploaded the picture with the caption: “And today’s plum of the day award goes to.”
The owner of a private tour company said today: “He tried to come in, stopped, and went to go ask staff at the ticket office.
“After being told ‘No’, he decided to give it a try anyway.
“People were waiting on the other side, but in typical Scottish fashion, just stood there silently tutting.”
“If he had actually got stuck there would have been no way of getting out.”
On social media, Matty Wight responded: “Some people need to be put to sleep, for the good of mankind.”
Donna Watson said: “What a dumbass.”
Nell Croissant said: “They [tourists] should be nice, dammit, and not trash up the places.”
Martin Nicol said: “Nice comfy snooze for the night. Twat.”
Mark Strachan said: “Dingbat.”
Following discussion about letting air out of tyres to negotiate tight spaces, Mo Watt wrote: “Let the air out of the eejit’s heid who thought he could drive through.”
And Paul Moran observed: “Let’s face it if they haven’t the sense to work out that they won’t fit through there it’s doubtful they’ll figure out the letting air out the tyres solution.”
Historic Environment Scotland confirmed that the entrance was not suitable for motorhomes.
A spokeswoman said: “We are aware that a campervan attempted to drive under the arch to the car park at Linlithgow Palace.
While we do offer limited car parking at the site for visitors to Linlithgow Palace and St Michael’s Parish Church, it is suitable only for cars and motorcycles.
“We recommend that high vehicles such as campervans park at the public car park which is located at the bottom of the hill.”
Linlithgow Palace’s imposing beauty, history, and stunning setting next to a loch has made it one of the most popular visitor attractions north of the border.
Linlithgow Palace was built in 1424 when James I ordered work on a palace after the previous residency was severely damaged by a fire.
It was the birthplace of James V and Mary Queen of Scots.
In 2016, Linlithgow Palace was amongst the top performing visitor attractions in Scotland with 69,000 visitors to the historic site.
This is not the first time a driver has put one of Scotland’s most treasured sites at risk.
In 2010, a contract driver destroyed an ancient archway at Scone Palace in Perthshire after crashing into it.
The top of the 16th century archway was knocked away after the van turned out to be too high to fit underneath.
