Conservationists in Ireland fear that an island off its south-west coast could be stripped of its  world heritage status thanks to a spike in tourist numbers after it appeared in Star Wars: The Last Jedi.

Skellig Michael, the larger of the two Skellig Islands, saw visitors increase after it featured as Luke Skywalker's hideaway planet in the blockbuster film. An Taisce, Ireland's national trust, says the site has been "hijacked" by the Star Wars link.

The island  rises out of the Atlantic Ocean about 13 kilometres off Ireland's coast. More than 600 steps carved out of rock take visitors 200 metres up and around sheer cliffs to the remains of a church, graveyard and six stone huts where monks fasted and prayed from the 6th to the 13th centuries.

"We consider that the state-supported use of the monastic island and its promotion ... as a Disney-Lucas film location is now endangering its continued designation as a world heritage site," An Taisce said in a letter to Josepha Madigan, Ireland's Minister for Arts, Heritage and Gaeltacht.

Preservation requirements mean that visitor numbers to Skellig Michael are usually limited to 11,100 people a year, but that jumped to 16,755 this year.

But Alex Connolly, of the national tourism development agency, said that "there is no danger that the island will be damaged or diminished" and that the Star Wars connection would "raise the profile of Ireland to a wider demographic".

The Telegraph, London