THE announcement that Outlander will return for an eighth and final season has been welcomed in its popular filming location of Culross.

Tim Collins, secretary of West Fife Community Trading Limited, says that buses full of fans flocking to the royal burgh in the summer months makes living with disruptive film crews on the streets "worth it".

The company was created to help save the Red Lion pub, a favourite of Outlander star Sam Heughan, who supported the community buy-out project which was completed in July last year.

Tim says that there is disruption to residents while filming takes place but that those affected are compensated in different ways, with the positives of the village appearing on the silver screen outweighing any negatives.

"Generally speaking, when they are filming in the village there is a bit of disruption, but then the tourism is worth it," he told the Press.

"In the summer time, bus loads come with people from other countries, people come all the way from America and Canada.

"There is a film getting filmed here in the next few weeks, it's such an old historic village there's not much needed to make it look like it's ancient."

The Red Lion was bought by the West Fife Community Trading Limited after its owners decided to retire following 30 years behind the bar.

Their hope was to raise £800,000, with the aim of ploughing the surplus income back into Culross to fund local projects.

And Tim says things have been going even better than expected, with the pub becoming popular with residents and tourists alike.

He added: "The cost of living is creeping in but it's all good so far.

"I don't want to be too confident, there are still things to do, but we can't be unhappy with the way things are going."

TayScreen, the company who organise filming locations in Fife, couldn't confirm whether or not Outlander would be returning to film in Culross.

The royal burgh has played multiple parts in the series, as the fictional village of Cranesmuir, the backdrop to gardens at Castle Leoch, a tavern, and the location of Balriggan Cottage.

The number of people travelling to Culross Palace has risen by 136 per cent since the first season aired, according to research by the Moffat Centre for Travel and Tourism, with a high of more than 25,000 visitors in 2019.