Culloden House Hotel in Inverness cries foul after walkers damage gardens
A LARGE Inverness hotel is asking members of the public to stop dumping rubbish and damaging lawns in its grounds after opening up its green space to walkers.
Culloden House Hotel’s management made the plea after discovering a small minority of people were abusing access to the leafy gardens.
The hotel stressed that most taking up the offer of access were behaving responsibly, but highlighted how it was being spoiled by a selfish few.
Management decided to open up the grounds during the Covid-19 lockdown to help locals exercise and enjoy the fresh air.
Problems include littering, dog fouling and dumping of disposable bags.
A hotel spokesman said: “Over the last week we have had issues with individuals disposing of bags containing dog foul in our bins, skip and leaving bags at the door.
“The bins and skip are for hotel use only and for items we need to recycle, putting items such as dog foul contaminates the bins and is not hygienic.
“We kindly ask that you act responsibly and take these bags of foul home with you.
“An increasingly large amount of litter is being left on the grounds, specifically around the duck pond.
“This morning we filled a black bag with rubbish, apart from littering this has the potential to be dangerous to the ducks so please take your litter with you."
Inconsiderate parking was also causing the destruction of verges and lawns.
The spokesman added: “Please do not park on the grass verges or front lawn in your car. We ask that you park outside the grounds and walk down through the gates.”
The hotel is currently closed and manned by key workers during the daytime and by security at night.
The spokesman warned the open gates policy might have to be cancelled if problems persisted, adding: “We must stress that 99.9 per cent of people using the grounds have been nothing short of exemplary.
“We hope that we do not have to close the front gates but if the above continues we will be left with no option.”