TEMPORARY toilets at a beauty spot popular with Glaswegians will open after a 25 year absence.

The Friends of Loch Lomond and The Trossachs will provide temporary toilets beside the popular Duck Bay beauty spot at the southern gateway to Loch Lomond for the period May to October this year.

The project is being funded by a number of partners including the Friends, the Hannah Stirling Loch Lomond Trust, the Park Authority and Argyll & Bute Council.

Sponsorship is also being provided by the Cawley Group who own and operate the adjacent Duck Bay Hotel.

Alan Cawley kindly agreed to allocate staff to regularly clean the toilets and provide toiletries and cleaning materials.

The Friends of Loch Lomond and The Trossachs say this provision after a 25 year absence of functioning public toilets at this busy site, which is used by over 300,000 visitors a year, has been widely welcomed.

It also follows on from a site walkabout last August led by Jackie Baillie MSP involving senior representatives from various bodies and the Cawley family.

This reinforced the urgent need to address the chronic outdoor toileting problem with thousands of visitors in desperation having to resort to toileting behind bushes and walls due to the absence of public toilets at what is the busiest picnic area in the National Park.

Jackie Baillie MSP said: "The Friends are to be congratulated for taking the initiative to provide much needed temporary toilets at this popular Loch Lomondside picnic area and this means that thousands of site users will no longer face the indignity of having to toilet outdoors and can now visit the site in the safe knowledge they will have access to toilets which are well maintained and hygienic.’’

James Fraser, Chairman of The Friends of Loch Lomond and The Trossachs, added: ‘’It has been a long hard struggle to get to this point but we are delighted that our determination to make something happen at this site has finally paid off and we are grateful to all the partners for contributing to the funding package to enable long overdue and desperately needed toilets to be provided here. I am also grateful to Alan Cawley who has willingly stepped in to support the initiative with practical day to day assistance as well as investing heavily in the neighbouring Knoll and Viewpoint which once again can now be enjoyed by thousands of visitors to the bonnie banks of Loch Lomond.

"We will continue to keep the pressure on public agencies to come forward with further plans to invest in this tired looking site which has the potential to be a jewel in the crown of Loch Lomond which we can all be proud of.’’