NORTH Berwick is the most expensive seaside town in Scotland, despite house prices falling in the town last year.

It topped the list for the most expensive coastal town in an annual study carried out by Bank of Scotland.

The results show that the average price of a house there was £327,124 in 2015 but that figure dropped to £314,435 last year.

However, North Berwick remains comfortably ahead in the study of second-placed St Andrews, which also experienced a house price slide, and Newtownhill in Aberdeenshire.

North Berwick was not the only East Lothian town to feature in the top 10, though. Dunbar is ranked as the seventh most expensive seaside town in the country, with an average house price of £198,172.

The top five – and eight of the top 10 – are all based on the east coast of the country.

Graham Blair, mortgage director at Bank of Scotland, said: “Living on the coast offers many attractions, including a typically high quality of life and attractive surroundings.

“As a result, property in seaside towns is often very popular with homebuyers.

“Over the past 10 years, the strongest-performing seaside towns have been on the Aberdeenshire coastline, as the oil industry was experiencing its boom period.

“However, more recently, house price growth has slowed down in many coastal towns, meaning good value for money can be found for those searching to realise their dream of living near the sea.”