China bus photo removed from Scottish Highlands travel campaign

The Scottish government has withdrawn an image used in a Highland bus travel campaign, after the photo appeared to show a bus driving in China.

The advert for a pilot scheme shows an image of a bus travelling on a winding road through a landscape that shares similarities to the rural Highlands.

But eagle-eyed social media users noticed that the road had bright green crash barriers and a green bus - sights which are not familiar in the north of Scotland.

They suggested it appeared to be the Changbai Mountain area near the border of China and North Korea.

Transport Scotland confirmed that an incorrect image was provided by an external marketing agency and has now been removed from communication packs.

Highland Tourism said it was "shameless" to blame a marketing agency and "questions need to be asked" about how the picture was approved.

The photograph in the advert shows hilly mountain terrain with large areas of both rock and grass along with a small stream at the bottom of a valley.

From a glance it looks strikingly similar to the Scottish hills but the unusual features of the road give it away.

Since being rolled out, the advert has appeared across social media and transport websites such as Citylink and Stagecoach.

The scheme was first launched in Shetland from 30 January, shortly followed by the Western Isles from 23 February and Orkney from 9 March.

The marketing campaign advertises a £2 bus fare cap pilot which was rolled out across all of the Highlands and islands from 23 March.

At the bottom of the image are the Scottish government and Transport Scotland logos.

Willie Cameron, director of Highland Tourism told BBC Scotland: "Blaming a marketing agency is shameless.

"The responsibility goes back to whoever sent the brief across, when the campaign was ready to go out and being signed off.

"Why did nobody in the marketing team at Transport Scotland ask where the picture was taken?"

He added: "It never should have been signed off. The fact is we have incredible photographers and professionals who work in the Scottish Highlands and could have provided an accurate campaign with accurate images.

"They should keep this work local and questions need to be asked about how this was approved."

A Transport Scotland spokesperson said that the marketing brief "clearly" specified that images should reflect the local area where the pilot is taking place and feature the correct vehicle type.

They said: "An incorrect image was then provided by the marketing agency.

"The image has been removed from partner communications packs and will be withdrawn from any ongoing distributions."