'Move on' plea from Nicola Sturgeon to visitors at busy tourist hotspots

The First Minister was responding to reports of busy roads and car parks at the weekend.

Nicola Sturgeon has urged people to 'move on' from busy tourist hotspots such as Portobello beach

Nicola Sturgeon has urged people travelling to tourist or beauty hotspots to “move on” if they look busy after a road was forced to shut due to the number of parked cars.

Areas such as East Lothian and Portobello Beach were also busy at the weekend with many car parks becoming full early in the day on Sunday.

It was one of the first full weekend with shops and cafes open, meaning people flocked to the countryside and the coast to soak up the Scottish summer sun.

However, the First Minister reiterated advice to avoid crowded places such as beaches and called on visitors to “move on” if an area looks busy.

She said: “In the coming weeks, we will inevitably start to travel a bit more, as more people return to work, and as some take the opportunity to make shopping trips, to visit friends, or to visit different bits of the country.

“That is good news but please do think about how and when you travel.

“First of all, and this perhaps applies especially in relation to leisure travel at the weekend, if you go somewhere and it looks busy, our advice is to go somewhere else.

“Yesterday, for example, at least one road had to be closed in the Trossachs, because it was being blocked by parked cars. We have also heard concerns in other areas, for example about large numbers of people wild camping in particular spots.

“So we are asking you to, please, use your common sense, if car parks are full, move on, and if places look busy, then also move on.

"Our very strong advice, as you know, is to avoid crowded places whether they are indoors or outdoors.”

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