iStockA number of walkers hiking along the West Highland Way have fallen ill with sickness and diarrhoea after drinking from rivers.
The National Trust for Scotland’s rangers at Ben Lomond say there have been a spate of walkers becoming “pretty sick” over the past month.
The route which stretches 96 miles from Milngavie in East Dunbartonshire to Fort William in the Highlands is popular with hikers.
The rangers say nine of those who have reported being ill all drank water from the rivers near Balmaha despite filtering it.
Three of those drank from The Burn of Mar at the back of Conic Hill, and rangers warned that there is a livestock upstream in the region.
They said in a social media post: “It’s always better to boil your water as this is a safer method than relying on filters as it all depends on which filter you have and how clean it is.”
A National Trust for Scotland spokesperson said: “We encourage anyone drinking from a natural water source outdoors to boil the water first to make it as safe to drink as possible.”
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