Pierce Brosnan is set to appear in court next month after reportedly trespassing on a “delicate” Yellowstone hot spring.

The former James Bond star was charged with twice entering no-go areas of the Wyoming national park on November 1.

He is accused of leaving permitted footpaths to get a closer look at the technicolour thermal Mammoth Terraces, an act illegal under federal law.

The offence is punishable by up to six months in prison and a maximum fine of $5,000 (£3,900).

Mr Brosnan, 70, is alleged to have strayed into areas of the famous national park that are barred to the public because they are considered too dangerous.

He is due to appear in front of district judge Stephanie Hambrick at the Yellowstone Justice Center in Mammoth, Wyoming, on January 23.

He was in the area for filming of the movie Unholy Trinity, a Western in the early stages of shooting that will also feature Samuel L. Jackson.

‘Hot springs can cause fatal burns’

Some of the springs at Yellowstone can reach temperatures of 92°C and steam vents can be as hot as 135°C.

“Water in hot springs can cause severe or fatal burns, and scalding water underlies most of the thin, breakable crust around hot springs,” the US National Park Service advises.

“Always walk on boardwalks and designated trails.”

More than 20 people are known to have died after entering or falling into Yellowstone’s hot springs.

Colin Nathaniel Scott, 23, is thought to have drowned and dissolved after getting into one of the springs for a soak in 2015.

One national parks employee found the foot of Il Run Ho, a 70-year-old from Los Angeles, in July 2022. It is not known how exactly he died.

In June, a woman was filmed screaming in pain after plunging her hand into the national park’s Silex Spring.