Villagers’ anger as road to Applecross to close for six weeks

RESIDENTS have voiced anger at the closure of a lifeline road to their coastal village.

The 11-mile long Bealach na Ba, which leads to Applecross in Wester Ross, is to close for road works for six weeks.

The road which hairpins up and down a mountain regularly features in lists of Britain’s most spectacular drives.

Villagers say they will lose as much as £400,000 in revenue from tourists in April and May, while enduring lengthy queues and higher petrol bills after being forced to use the alternative 31-mile coastal route from Sheildaig instead.

SSE Enterprise Telecoms is to install cabling for a Ministry of Defence testing station and bring fibre optic broadband into the area, with the Highland council planning to upgrade the single track the road too.

SSE says the passage is too dangerous to work on at night, forcing them to shut the road from 9am until 8pm over six weeks.

Judith Fish, who owns the Applecross Inn, said: “We have two cycle challenges in May and September, and we know that during those days people don’t come in, rather than use the longer road.”

She added: “They’ve offered us £20,000 compensation package, which is laughable when you consider even just the extra fuel we will all be losing.

“As a group of local businesses, we reckon we will lose about £400,000.”

Colin Sempill, managing director of SSE Enterprise Telecoms, said: “We will spread the message that Applecross remains open for business and ensure diversionary signage is clearly in place.

“We will also be making a £20,000 goodwill gesture to the local community in recognition of the short-term disruption the road closure will cause.”