A man who breached lockdown rules by travelling from England to camp on Loch Lomond had to be rescued when he got stuck on an island.

The man, who had been camping on the west side of Inchtavannach, had come to Scotland to spend the Easter weekend.

However, after becoming stuck on the island when his kayak paddle went missing, he called Police Scotland so that he could get back to his car which was parked in the nearby hamlet Aldochlay.

Loch Lomond Rescue Boat were paged just before 2pm on Tuesday, and went to the man's aid.

It comes as Scotland's 'Stay at Home' rule was replaced by a 'Stay Local' message from April 2, meaning travel regulations within mainland Scotland have eased slightly.

The National: Loch Lomond is a popular spot for touristsLoch Lomond is a popular spot for tourists

However, although self-catering accommodation can welcome guests from April 26, current coronavirus regulations mean that non-essential travel across the border is still not permitted.

A statement released by Loch Lomond Rescue Boat was posted on its facebook page yesterday evening - and reminded people to stick to the Covid rules.

It read: "At 13:50 on 6/4/21 Loch Lomond Rescue Boat were paged by Police Scotland.

"A person that had been camping on the west side of inchtavannach reported that after going for a walk around the island, he returned to his kayak to find the paddle missing.

"The Rescue Boat was launched and located the person on the island and safely transferred himself and his equipment over to his car at Aldochly.

"LLRB then returned to Luss and stood down."

The statement continued: "This person had traveled from England to camp on the Island for the Easter weekend.

"Please could we remind all to stick to the COVID rules and keep people safe."

Two years ago, an environmental organisation was forced to apologise after deliberately killing hundreds of trees on the island.

Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) said it should have informed the landowner before poisoning all the beech trees on Inchtavannach island with an injection of chemical herbicide glyphosate.

SNH had agreed a tree management plan for “selective felling” of non-native trees on the island in 2013 but did not tell landowner Luss Estates of the change to the plan for the widespread killing of more than 300 trees.

Previously, Luss Estates, owned by ninth baronet of Luss Sir Malcolm Colquhoun, said the island was left looking like a “wasteland” and accused SNH of creating a “major eyesore in one of the Scotland’s foremost beauty spots”.

The two parties have now reached an agreement in the long-running dispute, with SNH agreeing to pay to remove fallen trees.

The National:

David Maclennan, SNH area manager for Argyll and the Outer Hebrides, said: “Although Luss Estates was party to the original management agreement in 2013, which posited the removal of rhododendron and, by selective felling, of ‘non-native species’ over a five year period, Scottish Natural Heritage accepts that the subsequent amendment, which proposed to kill all the beech trees on Inchtavannach in a single operation by chemical injection of glyphosate was not shared with Luss Estates Company.

“SNH apologise for what was, with hindsight, an error on our part.

“We should have ensured that Luss Estates Company was informed of and consented to the proposed operations.”

He added: “The speed, scale, and visual impact of the operation was much greater than anticipated and we recognise that this has caused considerable detriment and upset to Luss Estates Company and to Sir Malcolm Colquhoun personally. For this we unreservedly apologise.

“There remains a need to undertake works to remove fallen timber from agreed areas – and we have offered to do this through a new agreement.”

He said the organisation remains committed to working with the estate “to protect and enhance the island for future generations”.