SKIERS at one of Scotland’s most popular resorts caused chaos by parking on a major road after the car park ran out of spaces.
Cars stretched for about a mile along both sides of the A82 near the turn off for the Glencoe Mountain Resort.
Police had to improvise a one-way system because the parked cars left too little space for two-way traffic on the Glasgow – Fort William road.
Skiers were drawn to Glencoe at the weekend by the best conditions for years, with a foot and a half of fresh snow on the slopes.
But the car park rapidly filled on Sunday and hundreds of motorists simply parked along the A82.
Video shows police directing traffic and taking registration numbers of offending vehicles.
Glencoe Mountain Resort, which was marking World Snow Day, said it had stopped selling tickets because its car park was full by early afternoon. A spokeswoman described the ski centre as “mobbed”.
One man who was caught up in the chaos said: “It’s ridiculous that they have parked here. There’s no room for lorries to get past.”
Police confirmed that they had been asked to attend and were directing traffic in the area.
Social media users who watched the video branded the motorists “idiots” who are “inconsiderate and stupid”.
Carol Robson, who had drive through the mayhem, said: “It was pure chaos when we passed about lunchtime.”
Loraine Sutcliffe said: “Unbelievable. Idiotic morons.”
Paul Barr, a photographer who took the video, said that the parked cars made it “very dangerous” for road users.
He said: “I’m all for the sustainability of the Mountain Resort – they have to take the trade when the snow is there – but safety should come first. Hopefully this weekend will lead to improvements to the parking and access from the A82.”
The Lochaber centre was not the only one affected by problems on the road.
Glenshee Ski Centre was cut off for most of Sunday due to an accident on the A93 Aberdeen-Blairgowrie road at the Bridge of Gairn.
A pedestrian was struck and killed by a learner driver in the accident on Royal Deeside between Ballater and Braemar.
The road reopened at 3pm after police investigations.
Snow and ice meant the road from the south was also impassable to most and only a few made it to the Glenshee resort, which could only open a handful of runs on the lower levels because of high winds.
At Nevis Range, there were 3,000 people over the weekend, including 1,800 who enjoyed top-to bottom skiing.
