Paintballers gunning for wood after squirrels vanish

Published on Thursday 2 May 2002 01:00

PAINTBALL is set to be allowed in a quiet wood outside Edinburgh - partly because no-one can find any red squirrels there.

Bedlam Corporate Entertainment, which has been looking for a new site since it lost its former base at Dalmahoy to its arch-rival Skirmish, is now hoping to run mock combat games in Milton Wood, south of South Queensferry.

A previous attempt to get permission to use woodland at Dolphinton, Dalmeny, was thrown out on the grounds that it was in the green belt and an important habitat for birds.

This time planning officials are recommending councillors give the go-ahead.

There had been worries that the wood was home to rare red squirrels.

But experts at Scottish Natural Heritage say there has been no sign of the animals there recently.

Bedlam plans to use the ten-acre wood for paintball games and neighbouring farmland for eight small timber buildings to act as a base for the facilities. There would be parking for 30 cars.

The Scottish Wildlife Trust has told the city council there are "anecdotal" reports of red squirrels in the wood.

But SNH says it has no record of them and "evidence would suggest that there is unlikely to be any currently present".

Councillors are being recommended to give permission at a meeting on Wednesday.