Channel 4 has appealed to members of the public not to gate-crash the set of its new back-to-basics reality show, after curious fans attempted to enter the remote Highlands estate in which a group of strangers have been marooned.

Eden, which began on Monday night, follows 23 volunteers who have agreed to be cut off from society for a year, in what the broadcaster says is a ground-breaking social experiment aimed at finding out how Britons react to life without modern conveniences.

The group, who have been provided with enough livestock and plants to allow them to survive while they build their community, began filming in March, within the confines of a 600 acre private estate on the Ardnamurchan peninsula, on the far western tip of the Scottish Highlands.