Fed up residents on Isle of Skye push for motorhomes tax after thousands of tourists flood to island during holiday season causing traffic and parking chaos

It is famous for its rugged landscape and scenic coastline which attract up to one million visitors each year.

But business leaders on Skye fear unless the island generates enough money to improve its roads network and restore the environment to cope with the growing influx of campervans it will be unsustainable as a long-term tourism destination.

They are now calling for a visitor tax to be introduced on motorhomes which travel to the island to counteract the impact the large number of vehicles are having there.

Simon Cousins, a director with SkyeConnect, the island's destination management organisation, said: 'Skye in particular has a huge infrastructure issue. The island population is about 12,000 but we get some 800,000 to one million people visiting each year.

'A lot of traffic on the roads comes from campervans and there is a feeling they spend very little in the local community. They fuel up in Inverness and Fort William on the way up. They're not spending their money in Skye and at the moment they are excluded from the transient visitor levy and we believe they should be charged.'

He claimed Highland Council's recent introduction of a voluntary £40 levy which allows campervans to park overnight in some of its car parks and gain access to leisure centre for showers was 'not very helpful' as it meant the authority was 'essentially competing with commercial camp sites'.

But he claimed new technology could allow the island to capture registration plates of campervans at the bridge onto the island and at the ferry ports to impose a 'small' tariff on those coming to the island.

In turn, he said the money could be 'utilised' for infrastructure projects and environmental restoration projects, including upgrading the roads and paths networks and introducing more toilet facilities and car parking areas.

He said: 'From the research we have done people would be quite happy to pay very small taxes.

'Ten pounds to visit a unique island like Skye, I don't think is going to put too many people off coming.

'We believe that everyone should contribute to the destination they are visiting. It's not going to be lovely for the long-term unless we have the proper funding for destination management.'

It is one of a number of measures the organisation is looking at to generate cash following a cut in funding, but he said such a levy would have to be introduced at local authority or Scottish Government level.

Highlands and Islands Scottish Conservative MSP Jamie Halcro Johnston said that while he opposed the SNP government's latest tax on Scotland's tourism sector, he had 'real sympathy with residents and business owners on Skye'.

He said: 'They have seen a proliferation of motorhomes on the island but not the investment in local infrastructure and connectivity to sustain that.

'While SNP ministers in Edinburgh have been busy increasing the burden on local tourism and hospitality businesses, they have repeatedly failed to provide much-needed funding for local councils, squeezing their budgets year after year.

'That's left Skye, and other island and rural communities, dealing with the impact of slow moving motorhomes, too many of which clog up narrow and badly maintained local roads, block lay-bys and, certainly in some cases, don't have access to proper ways of safely disposing of waste.'

Highland Council, in its guidance on the £40 motorhome pass, said it believed the voluntary scheme would likely achieve a high level of support given it will contribute to sustaining and improving infrastructure and 'support local businesses'.

The guidance said: 'Visitors are encouraged to visit nearby private businesses for wastewater disposal and to purchase from our many local retailers.

'Engagement and research has established that campervan and motorhome users will typically use sites like our overnight car park network for two to three nights before staying at more established campsites.'

The Scottish Government and Highland Council were contacted for comment.

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