Unprepared tourists chuck 200-year-old bothy furniture on fire over freezing fear

SUNDAY MAIL EXCLUSIVE: The four men from England admitted they were ill-equipped for the remote trek and resorted to burning furniture in the bothy to stay warm.

A group of hapless tourists with colds ripped up the furniture in a 200-year-old Highland bothy and used it for firewood fearing they could die of hypothermia.

Planks from a sleeping platform at the Strathan bothy in Sutherland were torn out by the four men from England who later admitted they “lacked experience” – with one making the off-grid trek in trainers.

An 80-year-old bothy maintenance volunteer had to make two round trips to the retreat on foot, totalling eight hours, carrying 12kg of timber in a backpack, to repair the damage.

Known only by their first names George, Tom, Niall and James, the feckless group explained what happened in an apologetic report to the Mountain Bothies Association on (MBA).

The men, from London and Portsmouth, wrote: “To be candid we lacked the proper experience and equipment for what we planned would have been a nice evening outdoors, however, we ended up too cold.

“We had a bag of logs which didn’t go far enough in keeping us warm and we were freezing after a long journey.”

They said they struggled to the bothy, “including almost fully falling into cold water ” and added: “We were not in the best shape…as some of us had colds.”

They ripped up wooden planks in the ancient shelter as “we were concerned about one or more of us being hypothermic while in a rather remote environment with no signal ”.

The group admitted: “We also had not left it the cleanest and I believe we could have been better about that.”

The men apologised and made a donation to partially cover the cost of repairs but the incident has sparked anger.

MBA volunteer maintenance officer Bob Tateson, 80, who hiked from his home in Kinlochbervie twice to repair the damage and clean up the mess last month, said: “There’s no mobile phone signal at Strathan. This might induce feelings of unreality and hysteria in young people and cause them to act in unpredictable ways

“When people get desperate, their sense of proportion tends to leave them. What was completely startling was they actually submitted a report which said, ‘We went there and we left a mess’. I’ve never seen anything like that.”

Bob said the group appeared to have been completely unprepared for what the journey entailed. He added: “Even your daftest hiker doesn’t wear trainers in winter. One of them didn’t even have a rucksack. Nobody goes on a hike without a rucksack.”

The Mountain Bothies Association said it was vital people taking on remote treks come prepared for their trip. A spokesman said: “It appears this group made a number of errors in planning and executing their expedition.”

Jamie Stone, Lib Dem MP for the area, said: “I hope whoever damaged it is identified and brought to law.”