The National Trust for Scotland (NTS) has conceded it may have been too harsh after a small business accused the conservation charity of bullying.

Lawyers for the trust threatened Aboyne-based Hilltrek Outdoor Clothing with legal action over use of the name Glencoe, ordering it to stop selling its £365 Glencoe waterproof jacket immediately.

A letter issued to owner Dave Shand said the NTS was the “registered proprietor of the UK trademark registration for Glencoe”.

In the letter, lawyers for the charity, which owns most of the glen, stated: “NTS seeks to ensure that only goods and services of suppliers with geographical links to Glencoe can bear the name Glencoe and also to protect the interests of the local community and local trade in Glencoe.”

Mr Shand, who bought Hilltrek Outdoor Clothing in 2003, said the company, which employs just three other people, had been making the jacket for between 25 and 30 years.

Mr Shand said: “We don’t produce huge numbers and our product is a premium product.

“I hope the NTS will approach us and we’ll have some useful dialogue rather than this nonsense.

“That’s what I would have expected, a reasonable approach rather than bullying.

An NTS spokesman said: “In retrospect, although the letter sent to Hilltrek was a standard one, it may have been, in the circumstances of this particular company, too harsh in tone.”

“Our letter to Hilltrek was intended to open up negotiation to establish if the company had legal prior trading rights and clearly the wording and tone did not convey this.

“We would be happy to enter into a dialogue with them with the aim of finding a mutually agreeable solution.”