Spot on the board for wetsuited executives

But the Yorkshire seaside resort has become the top destination for a new unlikely breed of surfer looking for the ultimate rush.

Every weekend hundreds of business people from across the North can be seen on the Scarborough sands, swapping their work suits for wetsuits and attending a very different kind of board meeting.

Now rather than a handful of straggly-haired teenagers taking to the waves, it is bank workers, doctors, teachers and accountants.

Paul Tomlinson, 38, who set up the Secret Spots Surf Shop, the first of its kind in the town, and now runs the Scarborough Surf School at Cayton Bay, says up to 200 beginners in their 30s, 40s and 50s can now be seen in the water every week.

He said: "The popularity has just rocketed.

"When I first started surfing here you would get strange looks walking through town in a wetsuit but now that has completely changed. We are getting people from all over the North.

"We have got accountants, bankers, headmasters, doctors, all turning up with the latest kit - I even sold a board to an actor from Emmerdale.

"It can sometimes get a bit crowded in the water now but this is such a boost for the town.

"Scarborough has been left behind a bit in recent years but these people often bring their families along and stay for the weekend and it is bringing a lot of money into the town.

"We've now got a surf bar and a lot of the hotels have become very surfer friendly."

Tom Walton, a 45-year-old director of an installation company in Bradford, is one recent convert to the sport after trying it for the first time following a serious rugby accident.

Now every Friday he comes home from work, hangs up his suit and drives to Scarborough in a 26,000 beach Jeep with a group of five friends.

He said: "Most of us took it up in our 40s and 50s and have become completely hooked.

"We go every weekend. I even went on Christmas Eve and Boxing Day last year. The temperature was minus five and the sand was actually frozen. I see more people in the water now every week, but I am not surprised.

"It is an incredible energy rush and just leaves you completely buzzing.

"No matter what the stress of my working week, as long as I am going surfing at the end of it I don't mind.

"I come in to work on Monday mornings completely refreshed and have never been fitter.

"People come from all over the country but we all get along and there is a real community spirit.

"The nature is beautiful as well. Seals are there every week and once I paddle out a bit the water becomes a lot clearer.

"When I first started I got knocked out by another surf board and woke up in Scarborough Hospital with my ear hanging off.

"But I will keep doing this until I'm in a wheelchair."

During the early 1990s, Scarborough was widely regarded as being at a low ebb, with many of its best-loved attractions faded or pensioned off into the private sector.

But in recent years the town has reversed its fortunes.

In 2009 Scarborough was the winner of the prestigious European Enterprise Awards and officially voted Best Town in Britain and Ireland, as well as clinching the London-based Academy of Urbanism's Great Town Award.

Much of the recognition has been for the way the town has managed to re-invent itself as an all-year round tourist destination.

Coun Janet Jefferson, Scarborough Borough Council's portfolio holder

for tourism and culture, said: "It is amazing how popular surfing has become.

"We are becoming one of the main destinations for surfing in Britain and it is brilliant for Scarborough and its economy."

Good tidings for resort

Scarborough's east coast is now widely regarded as having some of the best surfing in the country.

Many beginners learn in the area's three main bays, North Bay, South Bay and Cayton Bay, while experts often head up to smaller coves known as "secret spots" along the coast where the waves are up to 20ft high but extremely dangerous.

The North Sea is about 4C in winter with air temperatures plunging well below freezing.

In the summer the water can get up to 13C but surfers wear wetsuits all year round.

The first surf shop was set up in 1989 and there are now five in the town.