MOTORHOME owners have been threatened with jail after they emptied their portable loos in a public toilet on Skye – leaving the floor covered in poo.
The disgusting images were taken by a cleaner on the island, which has long been famed for its natural beauty but is rapidly becoming synonymous with overtourism.
Cary McPhee also photographed revolting piles of rubbish dumped by motorhome owners outside the toilets in the Dunvegan village car park.
He claims tourists have also been dumping the contents of their portable toilets in and around Loch Dunvegan.
Highland Council, which runs the public toilet and employs Cary, today warned those responsible their visit could end with jail time.
A Highland Council spokeswoman said: “The principles of ‘wild camping’ are that people should ‘leave no trace’.
“Regarding littering and fly tipping we can issue £80 fines for dropping litter and fines from £200 to £20,000 for fly tipping.
“Or the offender can receive six months in prison – up to five years if hazardous waste is dumped.”
The pictures taken by Cary and his wife, Natalie, were uploaded to social media by a friend, Janet Farrell.
She wrote: “This is what we have to put up with in Dunvegan village car park after nine camper vans parked illegally overnight.
“Not only do they think it acceptable to leave all this rubbish but they also deem it acceptable to empty their toilet waste down the public toilets.
“When they are blocked they tip the toilet waste either at the side of the loch or directly into the loch.”
Janet, who said all nationalities were to blame, added: “This is not only happening in Dunvegan it’s happening all over the island and the Highlands and it has to stop.”
“This is disgusting. No respect for our beautiful country. What’s even worse is the illegal parking when there’s a campsite nearby”.
Another said: “So sorry to see that people are acting worse than pigs”.
A viewer from the US wrote: “I love Scotland. I would never disrespect the country or her people like this. I know how you feel. Here in the states we have people doing the same at our beaches. Makes you feel as though you wish they’d never visit.”
“Makes me so mad,” wrote another. “The routine lack of respect. I literally carry little garbage bags and bring my trash back to where I am staying.”
Another said: “This is disgusting. You wonder what their homes look like. We have camped in a motor home and in tents. Our motto is leave the place as if you had never been there. Spotless.”
Speaking today, Natalie said: “It’s disgusting.The problem has gotten worse this season with motorhomes staying overnight.”
Natalie also questioned whether tourists in motorhomes even bring any economic benefit to the island.
She said: “I don’t think it is any asset to Skye. They usually are self-sufficient. They probably help the petrol stations and the supermarkets. They just add to the level of traffic on Skye. It’s just bonkers.”
Yesterday it was reported the Skye mountain rescue complained the hardest part of their job was finding a parking space in the tourist hotspot.
They said they struggled to find a safe place to park near the Old Man of Storr while trying to reach a casualty.
The tourism crisis in Skye has led to people calling for a tourism tax with some wanting to go far as reinstating the return toll on the Skye Bridge which was abolished in 2004.
