Stagecoach boss Gloag in landmark challenge to ramblers' access rights

Mrs Gloag, one of Britain's wealthiest women, with an estimated fortune of 200 million, has lodged court papers seeking a right to total privacy at her Perthshire home of Kinfauns Castle. The move, if granted by the courts, would effectively ban the public from the grounds of her estate.

At present, ramblers believe they have access to part of the grounds under the Land Reform Act 2003.

Mrs Gloag's decision to challenge the act in court follows a major public outcry when she erected a mile long 7ft high security fence around her 4 million family home.

The "prison camp" style fence was condemned by the Ramblers Association in Scotland. It accused the co-founder of the Stagecoach transport empire of preventing public access to a woodland area of national significance.

Bur Mrs Gloag's right to erect the fence was upheld by the planning authority of Perth and Kinross Council, which granted her retrospective planning approval. Now RA Scotland is to challenge Mrs Gloag's declaration at a test case hearing at Perth Sheriff Court, set for 30 June.

Dave Morris, the director of RA Scotland, told The Scotsman yesterday: "This will be the first test case in which a land manager has gone to court to seek a ruling on whether there is a right of access under the legislation.

"There are other cases in the courts where local authorities have taken action to remove obstructions, but this is the first case to test out whether a piece of land does, or does not, have the statutory rights of access.

There are a number of old paths through that area which clearly have been used for decades.

"I would be surprised if the court did not find there was a statutory right of access over the woodland area enclosed by the fence.

"Our interpretation of the act and the outdoor access code is that the statutory right of access applies over the woodland area but not over the grass lawns in front and down the side of the castle."

A spokeswoman for Mrs Gloag said: "Kinfauns Castle is now the permanent residence of Mrs Gloag and her family and, therefore, the legal status of the land surrounding her home has changed and is no longer open to the public.

"Even before the castle became a private home, there were no rights of access through the grounds. Access to the remainder of the 23-acre estate is not affected and remains as it was when the castle operated as a hotel.

"Mrs Gloag's privacy and that of her family are guaranteed under the Land Reform Act 2003 and the Scottish outdoor access code."

A source close Mrs Gloag told The Scotsman she was simply seeking her right to privacy enshrined in law.

The source went on: "There is a lunatic fringe of ramblers who don't accept that. And there is provision within the act that allows us simply to go to the courts and have it declared that it is private land and you can't come on it."

Robin Maitland, a partner with the land agents Strutt & Parker, said estate owners and prospective land purchasers in Scotland would be keeping a careful watch on the court proceedings and should Mrs Gloag lose, it could act as a disincentive to future land acquisitions north of the Border.

He said: "The reason a lot of people are buying estates in Scotland is because they are buying a private, secluded property.

"But the whole thing revolves around curtilage, and the legislation doesn't completely define what is the curtilage around one's property. And the curtilage around a castle is very different from the curtilage around a terraced house.

"It is doubtful whether this will be legally resolved. It may resolve what is the curtilage around Kinfauns Castle, but it may be different for similar properties."