John Muir Trust will accept no slip-ups in fight against littering on Ben Nevis

Members of staff from conservation charity the John Muir Trust are taking to the slopes of Ben Nevis dressed as bananas to ask people to take their litter off the mountain.

Ben Nevis conservation officer Sarah Lewis said, “A lot of people who wouldn’t normally dream of dropping litter don’t realise that things like banana skins and apple peel are creating a big problem for the local environment.

“We want people to take the ‘leave no trace’ approach, which means if you carry something up the hill, you should take it back down with you.”

That message is becoming increasingly important as 18 sacks of rubbish were collected during a recent clean-up of the mountain, 10 of which were full of banana skins.

The trust says organic waste has a real impact on the ecology of sensitive upland environments. It attracts scavenger birds, which displace native species such as snow bunting and ptarmigan.

The campaign will run at Ben Nevis throughout the summer.