THOUSANDS of families use the Erskine Bridge every day to reach Scotland’s beaches and lochs without realising that one of Britain’s best picnic spots lies directly beneath it.

Now the little known area of Boden Boo, a small strip of grass and beach next to where the Erskine ferry once plied its trade, has been named one of the best places in Britain to have a picnic.

It features on a list that includes the Avebury stone circles in Wiltshire, a Japanese garden in Holland Park in London’s Kensington and beaches in Dorset and South Wales, as one of the top 20 places for to eat al-fresco with the family.

Described by the Forestry Commission Scotland as a “small woodland that feels big”, Boden Boo’s new picnic hotspot status may well raise eyebrows among the many motorists who cruise by on their way to Loch Lomond and the Trossachs, or south to Ayrshire’s beaches.

Despite its grassy slopes, riverside beach and views over the River Clyde towards the craggy ridge of the Kilpatrick Braes, Boden Boo rarely features on any tourist maps.

Indeed to get there, visitors have to search for a small road just off the A726 north of Erskine, which is signposted ‘Crisis Counselling Centre’.

At one point, however, the road to Boden Boo teemed with cars heading for the now defunct Erskine Ferry, which connected Erskine with Old Kirkpatrick. The ferry closed in 1971 with the opening of the Erskine Bridge.

Boden Boo ranks at 18th in the top 20 of picnic destinations.

The only other Scottish place to feature on the list, compiled by entertainment service DisneyLife, is Galloway Forest Park in Dumfries and Galloway, in 20th position. It is best known as the UK’s first Dark Sky Park and Britain’s largest forest park.