Firefighters attending blaze at the Speyside Centre
The emergency services are currently in attendance at a major fire at the Speyside Centre by Skye of Curr.
Firefighters are tackling the blaze which has taken hold at the main building of the popular attraction.
Fire crews from Grantown, Aviemore, Nairn, Kingussie and Inverness are at the scene. The alarm was raised at around 8.20am.
Police have blocked off the main entrance to the car park of the centre which until recently was known as the Speyside Heather Centre.
A Police Scotland officer refused to allow access beyond the turn-off from the road leading to Skye of Curr stating it was too dangerous.
But one by-stander said: "It was complete devastation in terms of the main building. I think sadly the centre will be totally gutted.
"The flames were reaching 30 to 40 feet in the air and there was a massive pall of black smoke."
A force spokeswoman said that the blaze was still on-going.
She commented: "I can confirm that police officers are on the scene but I can not comment further at this time."
Dense black smoke could be seen billowing from the site above the treeline from the A95 Aviemore-Keith road.
A spokeswoman for the Scottish Ambulance Service said that no ambulances were in attendance.
The Speyside Centre is run by the Lambie family and is a four-star visitor attraction.
It is home to a gift shop and boutique, the Clootie Dumpling Restaurant, a garden centre, the Wee Whisky Shop, the Whisky Tasting Lounge, an antiques and collectables centre, a unique heather story exhibition and wildlife viewing stations.
The centre was established in 1972 when Betty, David and their two young sons, Craig and Iain, moved from Carmunnock in Lanarkshire to Skye of Curr.
The 'Corner' as it was known at that time, was virtually an area of waste ground on a corner of two roads and the Lambie family lived there, in a caravan, for the first three years.
By the summer of 1973 signs offering 'Heathers For Sale' were erected.