POLICE have teamed up with countryside rangers to carry out patrols at a picturesque beach following concerns about wild camping.

Problems surrounding irresponsible campers were highlighted last month after reports of illegal fires being started and people leaving behind “toilet paper and human waste”.

The disgusting image at Tyninghame Beach was highlighted by the county’s countryside rangers.

On Friday evening, with temperatures soaring across the country, they were joined by police officers in patrolling the beach.

A spokeswoman for East Lothian Council confirmed future patrols would also be carried out when the site was expected to be busy.

She said: “We work closely with Police Scotland and other partners to manage responsible access to our coastal sites which includes matters such as parking capacity, wild camping and anti-social behaviour.

“Over the past months our countryside rangers have been carrying out patrols in and around our coastal sites engaging in particular with groups of campers.

“On Friday, they were joined by colleagues from Police Scotland.

“The purpose of these patrols is to provide information on responsible wild camping and behaviour in our countryside sites, and to discourage illegal camping and anti-social behaviour especially when it involves groups.

“We intend to conduct these joint patrols over the busier weekends.”

Last month, countryside rangers revealed there had been an “unprecedented” number of visitors along the East Lothian coast.

The number was so large that some coastal car parks, including those at Tyninghame, Gullane and Yellowcraig, had to be closed.

On one Saturday last month, 92 tents were found at Tyninghame, which equated to about 300 people camping in an area with no toilet facilities.

Across East Lothian, more than 150 tents were found along the coastline.