Gamekeepers have accused a group lobbying ministers to overhaul the management of Scotland's grouse moors of a "smear" campaign after it called for a ban on burning heather moorland.

Revive, which consists of five Left-wing and animal welfare groups, released "extremely disturbing" video footage of "vast swathes of heather upland on fire with flames and smoke billowing for miles."

But the Scottish Gamekeepers Association (SGA) said the film merely showed "well managed, legal muirburn" and accused Revive of "another orchestrated attempt by a group desperately seeking legitimacy to smear legal management activity."

It said the centuries-old practice has been proven to have many ecological benefits and claimed the group's real agenda is to ban grouse shooting "and to put rural working families on the dole."

Scottish Land & Estates, which represents landowners, pointed out that muirburn is "strictly regulated" and the benefits are recognised by Scottish ministers and their agencies.

They said the amount of smoke from small fires "can be deceptive" and the public should not be alarmed. Scottish ministers confirmed they were unaware of any recent cases of the muirburn code being broken.