Brodick Bay on Arran will have a new beach by the summer, after a deal was finally struck to allow sand from the dredging of the nearby harbour to be used to replace the town's lost beach.

Red tape looked set to thwart a plan to replenish the beach which has been an eyesore for five years since commercial removal of sand was compounded by storms and coastal erosion to strip the shore away and expose landfill on the southern half of Brodick Bay.

But the objections from North Ayrshire council have been overcome, allowing 10,000 tonnes of free sand, dredged during works on the town's new harbour, to be stored until the beach can be renewed at the end of this month.

George Leslie, the contractors for the harbour, had agreed to provide the sand free of charge to the Brodick Improvements Committee (Bic), but were unable to store it. Their offer to donate and transport the sand was due to expire yesterday [Fri].

Now North Ayrshire Council has allowed the group to store the sand adjacent to the beach while they await a licence from Marine Scotland for the works, which is due to come through on April 31st.

Ian Small, local electrician and Bic spokesman said he was delighted that common sense had prevailed, as the sand was otherwise destined to be dumped in the Clyde.

"It has taken us weeks to ge this far but I am as happy as Larry," he said. "it would have been a travesty if the sand had been dumped when it could be reused 500 yards away. We will have a beach back in time for the summer, it is a great result".

A spokesperson for North Ayrshire Council said: "We are delighted that a temporary solution has been reached by the Council, SEPA, George Leslie Ltd and Brodick Improvements Committee which will see the dredged sand transferred from Brodick Bay. We are also working with partners including Marine Scotland to secure approvals for the transfer of the sand onto the beach.”