A cyclist has claimed a Highland level crossing on the North Coast 500 route needs to be made safer after three people were taken to hospital in recent months.
Henry Whaley, 42, from Edinburgh, has begun an online appeal to obtain first-hand accounts from cyclists using the Garve crossing on the A835, where a friend was hurt.
He said: “There has been 10 cycling crashes in the last 10 years or so.
“There are various things that can be done, including putting river matting next to the train line to fill in the gaps in the line.
“I want to get as many stories from people as I can regarding where they came off. We can then take this to Transport Scotland and Network Rail.
“Basic signs are not doing the job properly.
“There is a dangerous situation here as people keep falling off there.
“We need to have another look at the signage and the setup and see what else can be done to keep people from falling off.”
The appeal comes almost two months after a female cyclist was transported from the crossing to Raigmore Hospital after suffering injuries.
Uisdean Menzies, owner of Out of the Blue Catering coffee shop, added: “Three people went away in an ambulance this year and at least three cases last year. The last case was on Sunday.
“There is a simple way round it. When cyclists coming from the Ullapool end pass, I kindly tell them to get off their bikes and walk across.”
A Network Rail spokesman said: “There is clear signage in place telling cyclists to dismount. Any decision on the need for additional signage outwith the railway’s boundary would be the road authority’s.”
Transport Scotland said: “Historically, a number of cyclists were not responding to the ‘cyclists dismount’ signs and so these were replaced with larger, yellow-backed signs in 2016.
“The level crossing warning signs were also lowered to improve their visibility.”
Transport Scotland said it was “supportive” of the idea of installing rubber inserts to close the gap at the rails, with discussions “ongoing”.
