Uninhabitable island, no pier, busy shipping lane..yours for over £75k

Uninhabitable, except by the flocks of seabirds which make their homes there, the Island of Lamb also has no pier, and sits in a heavily used shipping lane.

Despite this, its owner is hopeful of fetching more than 75,000 after putting it on the market – never having visited the site.

The agents handling the sale say they have already had six notes of interest for the volcanic outcrop.

Fondly known as The Lamb by locals in North Berwick, the island is owned by a Brazilian-born Scots baron now running a radio station in Florida.

Camilo Agasim-Pereira bought the title of Baron of Fulwood and Dirleton after purchasing the Kirkclaugh estate near Ayrshire for 690,000 five years ago.

The Island of Lamb came as part of the Barony "package", but now Mr Agasim-Pereira has decided to sell up.

The island, 100 metres long and 50 metres wide, lies between the islands of Fidra and Craigleith in the Firth of Forth.

It is flanked by two small "sheep dogs" – North and South Dog Islands – and like the other Forth Islands was created by volcanic activity millions of years ago.

The Lamb currently has the only breeding cormorant colony in the region, and Scottish Natural Heritage confirmed that it is protected by European law as a Special Protection Area, and by national law as a Site of Special Scientific Interest because of its wildlife. Tom Brock, chief executive of the Scottish Seabird Centre, which monitors bird life on many of the Forth islands including the nearby Bass Rock, said it would not be able to bid for the site.

"It is a very good site for seabirds, but unfortunately because we are a charity we do not really have the money to bid for ownership of the island," he said.

The RSPB Scotland, which owns two islands in the Forth,

said: "We have no plans to put in a bid for The Lamb, and whoever did buy it would need to be aware that there is very little they can do with the land, because of the sensitive breeding colonies there."

Potential buyers can only get there by boat from North Berwick, although selling agent Nicholas Wright of Buccleuch John Sale has warned that they do so "at their own risk".

He said: "We're not arranging viewings but anyone can sail there if they like, it has been done in the past via the rocks."

Mr Wright added: "The chap who has it says he hasn't even been there.

"He only acquired it five years ago and we've set this guide price because, understandably, he wants to make as much as he can from it.

"I'm confident we'll sell it because despite only being on the market for a week we've already had six names in for it."

MEET THE NEIGHBOURS

The Bass Rock

Owner: Sir Hugh Hamilton Dalrymple

The most famous island in the Forth, the Bass is 100 metres high, and is a world-renowned breeding ground for seabirds.

Craigleith

Owner: Sir Hugh Hamilton Dalrymple.

Craigleith makes up the chain of islands near North Berwick along with Bass Rock, Fidra and The Lamb. It is also a bird colony, and was once used as a rabbit warren, where the animals were bred for food.

Cramond Island

Owner: Dalmeny Estate

The tidal island which lies just off Cramond is a third of a mile long and cover 19 acres. It is reached by a paved path, exposed at low tide, though this often leads to people becoming trapped on the island.

Fidra

Owner: RSPB

An uninhabited island in the Firth of Forth, Fidra has an automated lighthouse, and can be accessed via a primitive jetty on the west of the island.

It is said that Robert Louis Stevenson based his map of Treasure Island on the shape of Fidra.

Inchkeith

Owner: Sir Tom Farmer

Inchkeith was once a strategic location for a lighthouse and for defending the Firth of Forth from attack.In 1986 the lightkeepers were withdrawn when the lighthouse was automated and the owners, the Northern Lighthouse Board, sold the island .

Inchmickery

Owner: RSPB

Inchmickery is only 100 metres by 200 metres, and during the Second World War was used as a gun emplacement.

Isle of May

Owner: Scottish Natural Heritage

The Isle of May, just 1.8 km long and less than half a kilometre wide, is owned and managed by Scottish Natural Heritage as a National Nature Reserve. The island is closed to visitors from October until May to prevent disturbance to the large number of seal pups