Ann Gloag said she needed security at her home

Mark Anderson said he was hired by her solicitors to take the photos of Kinfauns Castle.

Mrs Gloag, one of Scotland's richest women, has launched a legal bid to ban the public from part of her estate.

Mr Anderson told Perth Sheriff Court that he had been able to take pictures of people at the castle windows.

Mrs Gloag is seeking to become the first private individual in Scotland to be exempted from right-to-roam legislation for security reasons.

Access boundary

However, the Ramblers Association is fighting the move and Perth and Kinross Council said it wanted part of a security fence at the estate moved.

Mr Anderson told the hearing he had taken pictures from the line proposed by the ramblers as the point up to which they should be allowed access.

But he also admitted that at least one picture had been taken from inside the proposed line and conceded that taking the pictures from 10 yards further away would have made little difference to the end product.

Kinfauns Castle's head gardener, Robert Isdale, also played down the environmental importance of trees on the estate.

The court also heard from former Tayside Police crime prevention officer Donald Campbell, who visited Kinfauns Castle to assess its vulnerability to intruders.

I think you have to accept that as soon as someone does become prominent they do become a target Andrew Ashwood security analyst

Mr Campbell, now a civilian fulfilling the same role, said he was told that the reason for the fence was to keep in Mrs Gloag's grandchildren and pets.

The court was told a children's play area had recently been moved further from the castle, close to the perimeter fence and obscured from view.

Mr Campbell said moving the play area to the new location was not sensible if Mrs Gloag had "genuine concern" about the children being kidnapped.

Also giving evidence, security analyst Andrew Ashwood, said he was "surprised" that the fence had not been fitted with an intruder detection system.

However, he said he had run an internet check which found 47,000 articles relating to Mrs Gloag and could find no evidence of threats against her.

"There was nothing really threatening," he said.

"I think you have to accept that as soon as someone does become prominent they do become a target."