A “HUGE” step in a bid to revitalise a beach that was once a magnet for tourists is now under way.

Coastal erosion has caused unusually high levels of sand to be lost to the sea from Dunbar’s Each Beach in recent years – leaving a sewer pipe exposed too.

Volunteers at the town’s shore and harbour neighbourhood group have been working with East Lothian Council and various other parties in a bid to address the issue and see the beach returned to its former glory.

Last Monday, work started on creating a rock armour next to the sewer pipe, with the scheme being partly funded by Scottish Water.

The second phase of the regeneration project will see plans drawn up to reinstate the groyne on the beach, with a bid for work to start on that later this year.

Ward councillor Norman Hampshire, depute leader of East Lothian Council, was “absolutely delighted” to see work getting under way.

Work is due to take place throughout much of the summer, with the work only able to be done at certain times of the day due to the tide.

He described the beach as “hugely important” to the town, both historically and looking forward.

Mr Hampshire said: “It is economically important and it is socially important.

“It is a place where lots of people go to meet and enjoy being at the seaside and it brought a lot of people into the town centre.

“There was a lovely beach and for that beach to be restored to what it used to be would be a huge, huge boost to the town.”

Pippa Swan, chairwoman of Dunbar Shore and Harbour Neighbourhood Group and a member of the town’s community council, said: “We think it is huge [development]. We have been working on the East Beach project since it was massively degraded in 2014 and put a huge amount of intellectual endeavour into it and consulted widely.

“Everybody recognises the work that we are doing has to be considered a trial because we are dealing with the vagaries of the North Sea.

“At the very least, [the rock armour] will disguise the very blunt line of the sewage interceptor pipe and, at the most, we hope it acts as a wave attenuator, slow down the wave before it hits the sea wall in the hope it then drops more sediment.

“We are not expecting the beach to arrive back overnight. We are entirely dependent on the sediment being carried into the bay from the North Sea but what we are hoping is the rock armour helps to return material.”

Mrs Swan, who is also chairwoman of Dunbar and East Linton Area Partnership, stressed the importance of the beach. She said people thought of it as “a principal asset”, with Dunbar being a coastal town with a history of attracting holidaymakers.

She added: “Whatever shape the beach is in now, whether it is rocky or sand coming back, we have to do everything we can to make it as attractive as possible.”