Coronavirus: Mountain shelters remain closed 'for now'
- Published
Most of the mountain shelters - called bothies - are in Scotland
Shelters used by hillwalkers and climbers are to remain closed until further notice, the charity that maintains the sites has said.
Bothies in the hills and mountains of Scotland, England and Wales were shut as part of the coronavirus lockdown.
The Mountain Bothies Association (MBA) said they would stay closed "for now".
The MBA, whose volunteers look after the shelters, said it was awaiting further government guidance before reopening the buildings.
The charity maintains 105 bothies and two emergency shelters, with 86 of the sites in Scotland, 12 in northern England and nine in Wales.
Many are stone-built with a corrugated metal roofs, with a fireplace inside for visitors to burn material to keep warm in bad weather.
'Wild places'
In Scotland, lockdown restrictions on how far people can travel for leisure are due to be eased on Friday.
The MBA said: "With the 'stay local' restrictions on travel for recreation and leisure in Scotland and Wales likely to be lifted soon enabling more people to visit the hills and wild places, we would like to remind everyone that all MBA maintained bothies are currently closed.
"This applies in Scotland, England and Wales. Please do not visit them."
It added: "Although bothies remain closed for now, we expect to be in a position shortly to make a decision about a return to their responsible use in line with government guidance."
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