Hundreds of farmers in Scotland are to take action to clean up pollution and help protect bathing water.

The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (Sepa) said a majority of farmers in Ayrshire were willing to back a new drive.

Bathing water in Ayrshire has had a notoriously patchy record meeting European standards.

Sepa warned that farmers could face legal action if they do not make changes to their practices to help water quality.

The action is targeted at bathing water

This year all designated beaches in Ayrshire met European standards for the first time, prompting Sepa to warn against complacency.

Scottish Water has spent �116m on new sewage works, but must spend yet more to deal with domestic effluent.

However, the newly created national water authority said its research suggests that during heavy rain farm pollution is swept down rivers to the sea, undoing some of the improvements.

A team from Sepa has spent the summer visiting nearly 700 farms giving advice on how to prevent slurry running into water courses.

A spokesman said the majority of those farmers were co-operating, sometimes at considerable expenses, but that legal sanctions could be sought against those who do not comply.