NEW homes have been created in a Scottish woodland, for the fairies who have been reputed to live there for more than 320 years.

The unusual properties were created by Stirling Council staff, in trees on the Doon Hill, near Aberfoyle, in the Trossachs.

The location has been rumoured as a haunt for the magical creatures since the 1690s when the parish minister, the Rev William Kirk, claimed to have seen them there. To this day, fairies are said to grant wishes for people who tie a message to the "minister's pine".

A team of workers decided to help make them "as comfortable as possible", by creating a whole series of fairy doors and houses along "The Fairy Trail", a popular family walking route.

Senior Manager of Environment Nicole Paterson said: "We certainly hope that people will enjoy this something extra on what is already a pretty popular trail."

Reverend Kirk wrote the Secret Commonwealth of Elves, Faunes and Fairies in 1691, on the nature and social structure of supernatural beings or fairies on the Doon Hill.

Born in Aberfoyle in 1644, Kirk was the seventh son of the local minister, and was said to have been gifted with "second sight".

He walked up Doon Hill every day for exercise, but on the 14 May 1692 he collapsed and died on the hill.