A Perth mother of two has hit out at the condition of paths at a Perthshire beauty spot.
The woman, who wished to remain anonymous, told The Courier she visited Kinnoull Hill on Sunday, where she counted at least 12 young cyclists on the paths, “destroying” the forest floor and creating boggy areas and exposing tree roots.
“My husband and I like to take our children walking on Kinnoull Hill to keep them fit, but the amount of people there has spiralled now.”
She continued: “Parents also take their children there due to the geocaching website, which has stashes of toys located on the hill for them to find.
“However, they have to watch where they go due to the mountain bikers appearing out of the blue.”
The woman added: “There is a similar area in Crieff, called the Knock, which is located near Crieff Hydro. But there are no mountain bikers allowed there and the ground is not rutted.”
A spokesman for the Forestry Commission Scotland, who inspected photos of the alleged damage, said: “It’s difficult to tell from the photographs exactly where this has occurred, but the trail appears to be a well-used informal path of which there are many throughout the woods of Kinnoull Hill.
“These trails have been created by people using them and FCS do not carry out any maintenance on them.”
He continued: “The Scottish Outdoor Access Code gives everyone the right to responsible access. So as long as all visitors respect that guidance as well as the rights of other visitors we have no issue with anyone visiting the hill.
“Kinnoull is a great location with enough space for everyone to enjoy their visit.”
A council spokesman said: “The use of mountain bikes on Kinnoull Hill is within the access rights of those who use the area. We have had no complaints about damage being caused by bikes, but we would encourage members of the public to report damaged paths to us to that we can investigate.
“We are currently preparing to tender for work to repair pathways damaged by heavy rainfall in July, and this work may alleviate the problem.”