MAJOR restoration work has started on a historic Perthshire castle made famous by television series Outlander.

This comes following a huge increase in visitors at Doune Castle, which are said to have doubled thanks to the series.

Game of Thrones, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Ivanhoe and The Bruce have also been filmed at the medieval stronghold near the village of Doune in Stirling.

The Scottish Sun reports that last year, more than 71,000 people were welcomed to the fortress.

As well as being the site for the fictional Castle Leoch in Outlander, the castle was also used as Castle Anthrax in Monty Python and the Holy Grail and is host to an annual "Monty Python Day".

Castle Doune, which dates back to the 1300s, was also most recently the location for Winterfell in hit TV series Game of Thrones.

Restoration work by Historic Environment Scotland (HES) will be carried out on the walls, roofs, windows and drainage.

The visitor shop will also be moved to a bigger room to create more space for increasing numbers.

There are also moves to increase car parking without impacting the "visual characteristics" of the property.

David Mitchell, Historic Environment Scotland director of conservation, told the Scottish Sun: “Visitor numbers to Doune have doubled in the past two or three years.

“It has become not only a significant cultural asset but also an economic asset.”

Last week culture secretary Fiona Hyslop announced there would be £6.6 million worth of extra funding for historic sites in 2017.

Doune Castle was lsited as one of the priority sites for work this year, as well as Edinburgh Castle and Stirling Castle.