Beaches clean up with Seaside Award

A SWEEP of East Lothian beaches have been feted by Keep Scotland Beautiful today.

Seven sandy stretches have been earmarked for a Seaside Award, administered by the environmental charity, with each flying a distinctive flag to highlight their achievement.

Award-winning Garden County beaches include: Belhaven Bay; Dunbar; Gullane Beach; Longniddry Bents; Longniddry Gosford Bay; Milsey Bay, North Berwick; West Beach, North Berwick and Yellowcraig Beach, near Dirleton.

Many of the listed beaches have retained the award for more than a decade, with Gullane the joint longest-standing recipient – alongside St Andrews West Sands Beach in Fife – boasting a record of 18 years.

The Seaside Award programme has been recognising Scotland's best-managed beaches for 18 years.

There are two categories to the Seaside Award, one which recognises the more rural nature of Scotland's beaches and a second for resort beaches.

Of the accolades, councillor Paul McLennan, the council's community wellbeing spokesman, said: "Tourism is an extremely important component of the local economy and the high quality of the coastal environment attracts many visitors each year."