Fed-up residents on one of Scotland's most 'instagrammable' streets have expressed their dismay at the influx of tourists who flock to the small cobbled lane for pictures.
Circus Lane in Edinburgh's Stockbridge has seen a rise in popularity over the last five years - due to social media - with people visiting the street to take selfies and pictures in the beautiful surroundings.
The classic cobbles, greenery and cottage-style homes make it a must-visit for exploring tourists and seasoned capital veterans, reports Edinburgh Live.
Some residents in the street do get frustrated by the attention, although they understand their street is very beautiful. Locals claim to having been tutted at by photographers and being left to clean up litter left behind by sightseers.
Charles Montgomery has lived on the street for 30 years and has seen this rise in activity on the other side of his front door first hand.
He told Edinburgh Live: "Some days it's just constant up and down the lane photographing. Sometimes, you come out of your own house and people tut at you because you've spoiled their shot. They seem to think this is a film set and nobody actually lives here.
"I actually did walk out into a film set one day and they all shouted cut and started tutting at me. To be fair, seconds later the director was at my front door apologising profusely."
The 57-year-old explained how social media has introduced the small street in Stockbridge to a worldwide audience: "It's really intensified in the last five years. The more people share, the more people are going to see it all over the world. It's a global thing now.
"We all have funny stories about finding little old ladies on our doorstep. You walk out some days and there's a half-naked woman, or a couple of acrobats, or clowns. It does make life interesting sometimes."
These surreal moments seem to becoming fairly ordinary for Circus Lane residents as its popularity grows from the power of social media.
A resident, who asked to remain anonymous, gushed about living on the street, but said that visitors should be considerate of those who stay there.
She said: "I don't mind people taking photographs, but don't peer in windows. Be respectful.
"They can come down and take a few shots...They can take the lane, but don't need to stand in front of people's windows and sit on people's doorsteps, and leave their rubbish.
"One of the neighbours suggested that we go on to Instagram and put a few of photos of the rubbish that's left behind up, or when 20 people stand on the bench and the bench gets broken."
All of the stunning flowers and plants that light up the lane are maintained and funded by residents, many of whom welcome the admiring glances of passers-by.
Another resident, who also wanted to speak anonymously, described how dog owners were previously compromising the street's beauty: "For a while there was a real problem with dog fouling in the street.
"People were so busy looking at how beautiful the lane or taking photos they didn't really notice what the dog was doing. You'd walk out the front door and have to be careful of where you were standing."
The woman, who has happily stayed in her home for over 10 years, said that there are some drawbacks that have come with the influx of Instagrammers.
"It's lovely seeing people appreciating the lane when they respect it and when they realise it's a residential street. But a lot of the time they don't - day and night.
"Recently there was a couple getting engagement photos at 8'o'clock on a Saturday morning. It's lovely that they got engaged and they chose to come to our street, but I just went over to them nicely and asked if they could remember that there's people living here. It's a Saturday morning, they might want a lie in.
"There's a huge, huge, huge difference. With all the people taking photos, it might have put us off living here if we'd known that previously."
Don't miss the latest news from around Scotland and beyond. Sign up to our daily newsletter here .
