A leading conservation charity has lodged an official objection to a council's plans to include one of Scotland's most iconic mountains on a new network of paths.

The John Muir Trust believes that Perth and Kinross Council's proposal to designate the path to the 3553ft summit of Schiehallion as a "core path" could mislead the public about the risks of climbing the mountain.

Under land reform laws passed by the Scottish Parliament in 2003, local authorities must draw up a system of core paths which can give the public reasonable access throughout the council area.

Perth and Kinross Council included the route on Schiehallion on its proposed list of core paths and the first period of public consultation on the plans ended yesterday.

Andrew Campbell, land manager for the John Muir Trust, which owns the mountain and built the path in 2003, said: "While we completely support the development of a core path network in Perthshire, we do not think that this route fits the council's own criteria of what makes a core path.

"The route is not an access path linking two or more communities.

"The trust is also concerned that designating the path on Schiehallion could be dangerously misleading for visitors who do not have much experience of hill walking in Scotland. To many people a core path network gives the impression that the routes are relatively easy, fairly low level and not too arduous.

"Routes to the tops of mountains do not fall into this category," he added.

A spokesman for the council said: "All comments received will be taken into account when preparing the draft core paths plan."