Bathing water quality at a Stewartry beauty spot is the worst in Scotland.
The Dhoon near Kirkcudbright has received a “poor” rating from the Scottish Environment Protection Agency – the only one of the 85 sites examined to receive the lowest grade.
A number of measures will be introduced over the next 12 months, which the organisation describes as a “critical” period, to tackle the problem.
They include improving private sewage treatment systems for homes thanks to Scottish Government funding while South of Scotland Enterprise is involved in plans to improve water treatment at a caravan park.
Bathing water quality is rated based on the levels of bacteria found in the water.
Since last year, Brighouse has improved from “poor” to “sufficient”, while Rockcliffe is now classed as “excellent”.
That comes after Scottish Water spent £220,000 on a temporary water treatment system at Kippford last year. It is set to run for the next few years until a permanent plant is constructed.
Elsewhere in the Stewartry, Mossyard, Sandyhills and Southerness were all rated as “good” with Carrick classed as “sufficient”.
SEPA chief executive Terry A’Hearn said: “Improving Scotland’s water environment is a key priority for SEPA and that includes the bathing waters so many of us enjoy.
“Across Scotland, we work to protect watercourses through licensing, inspection and regulation of discharges and pollution incident response.
“In addition, we provide advice and guidance to the public, industry, developers and local authorities.
“We’ll continue to work with our partners to raise or maintain the state of bathing waters throughout Scotland with particular attention on Dhoon Bay in 2022.”
