The owner of a Caithness beach has launched the first private law suit in Scotland over alleged contamination from a nuclear plant.

Jeffrey Minter is taking the action against the operators of the Dounreay plant in an attempt to force them to improve radiation checks on the beach.

But Mr Minter faces being taken to court himself, after banning inspectors from his land.

In the past three years, 20 fragments of reprocessed radioactive particles have been discovered in the sand on Sandside Beach.

Campaigners claim the plant is a major polluter

The particles, which are the size of a grain of sand, are believed to have come from the plant, although the exact source has never been identified.

Mr Minter claims that monitoring by the UK Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA) detects only a tiny fraction of the "radiation hot spots" being washed ashore from the Dounreay plant.

A survey by UKAEA contractors was to have taken place on Thursday but Mr Minter has barred them from his land.

He is not seeking financial gain from the legal action.

He said its only aim is to order the UKAEA to step up the surveys.

But a spokesman for the Scottish Environment Protection Agency has warned it is considering taking legal action against Mr Minter himself - to stop him banning inpectors from his land.

A spokesman for the UKAEA said its solicitors had received a letter from Mr Minter's solicitor last week indicating that access for monitoring would cease on 30 June.

He said UKAEA would prove that its monitoring conforms to UK Government regulations.