A fire swept across the Cruden Bay coastline last night.
The fire took hold in the dunes and beach area beyond the Cruden Bay golf course shortly before 9.30pm.
About 20 firefighters brought it under control by 10.40pm.
A Grampian Fire and Rescue spokesman said: “We had multiple calls reporting the fire. We sent four appliances there and we had over 20 personnel at the scene.”
The last firefighters left at about 11pm.
A Grampian Police spokesman said their officers were also in attendance.
He said the fire was unexplained and they would be carrying out an investigation.
There was no suggestion that anyone was injured in the fire.
A member of staff at the Cruden Bay Golf Club said the fire was behind the golf course and next to the beach.
She said it was not thought to have damaged the course itself.
Speaking at the scene, Eugenie Verney, of Hay Street, Cruden Bay, said: “There are quite a few firemen out there trying to contain it. It has done a lot of damage.
“It is going to be a mess in the morning. Someone said it might have damaged the golf course but I hope not. It is just a nightmare.
“It is nesting season as well so all the birds will have been disturbed. Apparently you could see the flames for miles and miles.”
Another resident, who asked not to be named, said a large group of young people had held a party on the beach earlier in the evening.
She added that the fire had caused devastation on the dunes and that the flames had stretched across an “extensive area”.
She said firefighters had formed a circle around the fire to try to contain it.