Sky News
An Arabian resort in the United Arab Emirates looks as if it has been caught borrowing a British landmark to help tempt tourists to its beaches.
Owners of Durdle Door in Dorset are bemused that a photograph of their Jurassic Coast beauty spot has turned up on a website advertising The Cove at Ras Al Khaimah.
They fear that guests may travel thousands of miles to the UAE only to find that the picturesque setting was actually on their doorstep in the UK.
The Cove Rotana Resort in Ras Al Khaimah boasts 600 metres of sandy beach overlooking the Arabian Gulf.
But the picture on the banner across its website looks uncannily like the shingle beach on the South Coast.
The English site is popular with tourists and a valuable marketing tool for the Weld family's Lulworth Estate which owns and manages the coastline between White Nothe and Warbarrow Bay.
Former Dorset residents living in Dubai spotted it on the website and accused the Cove of pillaging the Dorset coastline and passing it off as their own.
"We only heard about it yesterday, so we're still not quite sure what's going on," Claire Dutton from the Lulworth Estate told Sky News Online.
"Before then, we didn't know anything about it.
"The image has been used on postcards and people often come here and take pictures. In fact, Google came here the other day and to took pictures.
"But I don't think people realise that the landmark is actually on private grounds.
"We do have a licensing department, but obviously we won't pick up everything."
James Weld, Lulworth Estate general manager, said: "It is not unusual to see Durdle Door being used by businesses to promote their own services ... the UAE is taking this to extremes and we hope that those visiting The Cove are aware of the real location.
"We would hate for people to travel thousands of miles abroad only to find this stunning landmark is on their doorstep."
The hotel later said that the website was designed by an independent marketing company and was not their official website.
It is not the first time Durdle Door has moved off the Dorset map. It has also appeared in an article on Turkey, and for one on the US.
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