TWO Ayrshire beaches have been named amongst the best in the UK for paddleboarding.

The sands of Troon and the Seamill area of West Kilbride were ranked in the top 10 of all locations in the nation for those looking to partake in the sport.

It follows a study by GO Outdoors which looked to investigate the best locations around the country for a number of watersports.

Beaches were rated on a number of factors before the final top tens were compiled.

The study looked at the temperature, cost, sunshine hours, chance of rain, water quality and popularity before making their decision based on an overall score out of ten.

And when it came to paddleboarding, there were few better locations than Ayrshire.

Troon beach came in at an overall UK ranking of sixth place, after achieving an overall score of 8.14 out of 10 - with a full score for water quality helping propel the South Ayrshire beach up the table.

Seamill beach wasn't much further behind, with an overall score of 7.46 out of 10 - boosted by parking around the beauty spot being free of charge.

Only one other Scottish beach ranked above those of Ayrshire - with Cullen beach rated as the fourth best in the UK for paddleboarding.

Silecroft beach in Cumbria took top spot overall, achieving a near perfect score of 9.27 out of 10.