A BEACH guide has come under fire for wrongly claiming dogs were restricted on 10 East Lothian beaches.

The website said that while there were no outright dog bans on the county’s beaches, 10 of them had restrictions.

And they said there were only seven beaches in the Lothians where dogs were allowed – naming six in East Lothian and the seventh as Thornwick Bay, which is in Yorkshire.

Attempts by the Courier to contact the creators of the website met with no response this week.

East Lothian Council said it has contacted them after it was approached by concerned local residents about the claims and has asked them to correct their information.

The website www.thebeachguide.co.uk says that beaches which have restrictions in East Lothian are: Belhaven; East Dunbar; Gosford Sands; Gullane; Peffer Sands; Seacliff; Thorntonloch; Tyninghame; Whitesands and Yellowcraig. Dog-friendly beaches listed are at Fisherrow in Musselburgh, Longniddry, North Berwick and Seton Sands.

Concern about the website information was shared on social media over the weekend with Dog Friendly East Lothian telling its followers that they had checked with the local authority and no beaches were off limits.

East Lothian Council said that while temporary restrictions were sometimes introduced in specific wildlife areas, particularly during bird breeding season, there was no ban at the beaches.

A spokesperson said: “We were made aware of some enquiries and concerns expressed by local residents via social media and have contacted the producers of this website to correct the information they have on East Lothian beaches. Dogs are welcome at local beaches but are not allowed within designated children’s play areas such as at Yellowcraig.

“There may also be some temporary restrictions associated with wildlife conservation where signs may advise dogs to be restricted from certain areas or on a lead during ground nesting birds’ breeding season on some coastal areas.”

The local authority also confirmed that under land access legislation in Scotland, people were entitled to be accompanied by dogs as long as they were under control.