THE public are being asked not to intrude on the set of Channel 4's back-to-basics reality show after fans attempted to gain access to the isolated Highlands estate in which a group of strangers have been stranded. 

In what the broadcaster is hailing as a ground-breaking social experiment, Eden follows 23 volunteers who have agreed to be cut off from society for a year to discover how people deal wih life robbed of modern conveniences. 

READ MORE: Channel 4's Highlands survival show Eden drives audiences wild

Filming of the group, who have been marooned with enough livestock and plants to allow them to survive while they build their community, commenced in March within a 600 acre private estate on the Ardnamurchan peninsula.

Though the densely forested estate is isolated, and is enclosed by a fence, it is accessible from the sea, and the episode due to screen tonight will show members of the public landing on a nearby beach. 

Keo Films, the production company behind the show, has successfully applied for an exemption order, under section 11 of the Land Reform Act, to temporarily revoke the public's right to roam over the estate, arguing unidentified intruders would pose a risk to those taking part in the show. 

READ MORE: Channel 4's Highlands survival show Eden drives audiences wild

Andrew Palmer, the programme’s executive producer, said: “It is up to the community if they wish to interact with the outside world however, for the integrity of what the group hope to achieve in this remote location we would hope that people leave them to it and observe the section 11 order.”

The group includes a doctor, vet, chef, carpenter, shepherdess and an adventurer called Anton. 

As they don’t have phones or internet, they don’t yet know Britain voted to come out of the European Union or that Portugal won the Euro 2016 championships.