ANYONE who has ever had the good fortune to drive the coast road through Wester Ross and Sutherland can vouch for its stunning beauty.

Meandering through delightful villages such as Plockton, Shieldaig and Poolewe and over the majestic Bealach na Ba to Applecross it is Scotland at its finest.

But then they went and spoilt it by giving it a name and it all kicked off.

Now everyone and their dog has got the North Coast 500 on their bucket list and with it has brought severe challenges to those living along its mainly single-track route.

Since its launch in 2015, traffic has inevitably skyrocketed along the 500-mile route and while some businesses have cashed in its success, others, it is fair to say, have simply had enough.

It all came to a head last weekend when a couple had the audacity to pitch a tent at the side of the ruined Ardvreck Castle in Sutherland.

Those who know the area will realise that it is several miles from the nearest village and the couple were almost certainly minding their own business in one of the most peaceful spots you can get.

But angry locals took matters into their own hands and confronted the couple in their tent and told them in no uncertain terms to sling their hook.

Obviously, they shouldn’t have been there in the middle of a pandemic and they were rightly talked to by the police.

However, the reaction of the locals does not bode well for the inevitable influx when restrictions are lifted in a few weeks and people take to the NC500 after months of being cooped up.

I suspect there may well be several ugly scenes over the summer as locals lose the plot with visitors.

The last thing tourist businesses need this summer are a bunch of vigilantes marauding across the Highlands chasing people away who have parked or camped in areas they don’t approve of.

It is not a good image for the country and could well have disastrous consequences for the beleaguered tourist sector.

Word gets round very quickly on social media and once an area gets a reputation as being hostile to visitors then people will simply no longer go.

Some residents have set up a Facebook page in which they pass vehicle details on about undesirable visitors. This sort of behaviour is simply unacceptable and is borderline illegal.

I fully understand locals being annoyed with wild campers leaving waste behind. A series of wardens have been appointed to monitor things this year while plans are in place to improve the infrastructure along the route.

But while wild campers, campervan drivers and motorists need to change their behaviour, so do locals.

Scotland has come a long way as a visitor destination in recent years and a bunch of folk armed with the equivalent of pitchforks should not be allowed to ruin its hard-earned reputation.