Instagram destroying fairytale village rumoured to be the inspiration for Disney’s Frozen

INSTAGRAM is destroying the fairytale village rumoured to be the inspiration for Disney's Frozen.

Hallstatt is tucked beneath the Salzkammergut mountains in Austria and has been dubbed "the most Instagrammable town in the world".

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The Alpine beauty spot is home to just 780 people and has been a Unesco world heritage site since 1997.

The village began to attract crowds after it appeared on a South Korean travel show in 2006.

And the success of 2013's Frozen added to its popularity - ever since it was linked to the fictional town of Arendelle, its popularity has exploded.

Since then, up to 10,000 tourists from across Asia have flocked to the lakeside hideaway every day, .

Hallstatt now has six times more tourists per capita than Venice.

Sightseers snap selfies, pilot drones, and pose for wedding photos in the picturesque town.

Some have even let themselves into local residents' homes to use their toilets.

In November, a mystery fire burnt down a significant part of the 16th century waterfront and the police are now investigating.

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Now, mayor Alexander Scheutz has begged the hordes to stay away.

The town even closed roads to put them off, but without any luck.

He said: "Hallstatt is an important piece of cultural history, not a museum.

"We want to reduce numbers by at least a third but we have no way of actually stopping them."

But not everyone agrees - some locals have called the town a gold mine.

One person explained: "Hotel rooms cost €300-€400. Public toilets costs €1 and 4,000 people use it every day — you do the maths."

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In 2011, a Chinese tycoon spent almost a billion dollars creating an identical twin of Hallstatt in his home country.

Another popular attraction is the Chateau de Chambord, which supposedly inspired Beauty and the Beast

You can also visit the German castle that was the inspiration for Sleeping Beauty.

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