The latest Good Beach Guide from the Marine Conservation Society (MCS) has found the number of Scottish beaches rated as "excellent" for bathers is now well below the UK average.

Tests on water quality carried out last year found 42 of Scotland's 109 bathing beaches are fit to be included in the guide, while four failed to meet even a minimum European standard for water quality.

Among those beaches where ratings fell this year are Machrihanish in Argyll and Bute and Croy in South Ayrshire. Both dropped to the bare minimum "mandatory" standard, after being rated excellent last year.

Now the charity has called for greater action to keep Scotland's beaches clean and say the latest figures should serve as a wake-up call to the Scottish Government, water bosses and local authorities.

MCS Scotland programme manager Calum Duncan said more work was needed to ensure Scotland's beaches remain open and to cut down pollution from farms and populated areas.

He said: "With stricter bathing water standards from 2015 and summers that appear to be getting wetter, the image of people bathing off golden beaches could be at serious risk."

Two of Scotland's most popular beaches Stonehaven in Aberdeenshire and Heads of Ayr in South Ayrshire failed to meet European Standards for bathing. Last year the Scottish Environment Protection Agency said both bathing waters recorded levels of faecal contamination above safety levels.

The two other beaches where pollution levels breached international standards were Greenan, also in South Ayrshire, and Lower Largo in Fife.

MCS said flooding during the summer led to an increase in the bacteria and viruses ending up in Scotland's waters, originating from a variety of sources including agricultural and urban run-off, storm waters, leaky plumbing, septic tanks and dog faeces.

Among the beaches rated as "excellent" by the MCS were Pease Bay in the Borders, Portobello in Edinburgh and Portmahomack in the Highlands. West Sands in St Andrews, made famous by the film Chariots of Fire, was judged to have met only the minimum MCS water standards.

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Call for action as majority of beaches fail to meet water quality standards