A NEW tourist information office for the Maid of the Loch in Balloch has secured planning permission – several months after it was put in place.

The temporary facility, which was put in place last summer and is adorned by painted images of boat-builders, has been given retrospective planning approval by officials from the Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park.

The permission is temporary for a period of three years.

A report on the application, by the Loch Lomond Steamship Company, says: “There is nothing to suggest that provision of a tourist information facility/tourist shop in this location would harm the vitality of Balloch since no other such service currently exists. The development is for a temporary period of three years, thus enabling the planning authority to control its use.”