Private land security across Scotland

Private land security services in Scotland

Cover is planned around the size of the land, its access points and where the problems occur. Our services include:

• Officers walking the land on foot, by day, by night or round the clock
• Static officers at gates, car parks, lochside access points and woodland entrances
• Mobile patrols at varied times across larger or spread-out landholdings
• Managing responsible access: explaining the Scottish Outdoor Access Code and directing people to paths and field margins
• Dealing with antisocial behaviour, and calling Police Scotland where behaviour is criminal
• Recording fly-tipping, damage, fires and off-road vehicle use
• A time-stamped record of every patrol, with hourly walkthrough videos and WhatsApp updates to the estate manager depending on the package
• A site audit before cover starts, supervised shifts and a named On Guard liaison

Empty buildings on the land can be covered by our vacant property security across Scotland, and building works by our construction site security in Edinburgh. Around Edinburgh, yards and outbuildings can also join our routes for mobile patrols and keyholding in Edinburgh.

Access rights on private land in Scotland

Scotland has a statutory right of responsible access. Under the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003, everyone can be on most land and inland water for recreation, education and some commercial purposes, and can cross land, provided they act responsibly. The Scottish Outdoor Access Code sets out what responsible behaviour means for visitors and for land managers.

Access rights do not apply everywhere. They exclude houses and enough land around them for reasonable privacy, gardens, farm buildings and farmyards, and fields where crops are sown or growing. Field margins and unsown ground stay open.

Landowners must not put up signs, fences or obstructions, or leave animals loose, for the purpose or main purpose of preventing or deterring access. The Code gives examples of unreasonable obstruction, including locking a gate on a path without reasonable cause and signs worded to intimidate the public. Local authorities can require these to be removed.

Sources: Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003, sections 6, 9 and 14; Scottish Outdoor Access Code, Parts 2 to 4.

What officers can and cannot do under the Access Code

The Code's definition of a land manager includes contractors acting for the owner, so our officers carry the same responsibilities you do.

Officers will:

• Talk to people, explain the Code and ask them to act responsibly
• Direct walkers, cyclists and riders to paths, tracks and field margins
• Ask people to keep away from houses, farmyards and crops, where access rights do not apply
• Ask people causing damage or significant disturbance to leave, as the Code allows
• Contact Police Scotland where behaviour is criminal
• Log every incident in time-stamped records

Officers will not:

• Block lawful access, lock gates on paths or stand at entrances to turn responsible visitors away
• Use signs, words or conduct meant to intimidate or deter people taking lawful access

Source: Scottish Outdoor Access Code, Parts 1, 3, 4 and 6.

Fly-tipping, off-road vehicles, camping and fires

Access rights do not cover motorised vehicles, except vehicles built or adapted for a disabled person and used by that person. Driving on land off the road without lawful authority is an offence under the Road Traffic Act 1988. Officers can ask riders of off-road bikes and quad bikes to leave and report them to the police.

The Code allows camping in small numbers, for two or three nights in one place, well away from buildings and roads, and outside enclosed fields of crops or farm animals. It advises using a stove instead of an open fire, and no open fires in prolonged dry periods or near forests, woods and peaty ground. Out-of-control fires should be reported on 999. In Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park, seasonal byelaws limit camping to campsites or permit holders.

The Scottish Government's National Litter and Flytipping Strategy funded seven private landowner projects, worth £38,639, to prevent fly-tipping. Our officers record dumped waste, which gives you dated evidence to pass to the council.

Sources: Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003, section 9; Scottish Outdoor Access Code; Scottish Government, National Litter and Flytipping Strategy Year 2 Update, October 2025.

Private estate security case study

Private landowners came to us with antisocial behaviour on their land. We put two guards on the land through the day, walking it and controlling responsible access.

Each contract begins with a site walk covering the boundary, gates, tracks, paths, water access and the spots where trouble starts. We then send a tailored quotation and security plan. The rota is supervised and the landowner has a named On Guard liaison. For urgent problems, we also provide last minute and emergency security guards.

Proof of every visit

How it works

1. Get in touchWhatsApp or email us with your location, dates and what you need covered.
2. Site auditWe learn about your site or event: layout, entry points, risks and timings.
3. Tailored planYou receive a written quotation and a security or loss prevention plan.
4. Deployment and reportingSIA licensed officers on site, supervised, with records you can check.