IF the image of a stone arch overlooking clear blue water and a shingle beach being used to promote a Middle Eastern resort seems all too familiar... that’s because it’s our very own Durdle Door.

The United Arab Emirates has some of the world’s tallest buildings and a manmade island but a replica of Durdle Door has not yet been made there despite the images on the website of The Cove resort in Ras Al Khaimah.

The Cove Rotana Resort is said to have ‘a multitude of activities’ with 600 metres of sandy beach – except the beach at Durdle Door in the picture is clearly a shingle beach.

Former Dorset residents living in Dubai have been shocked to catch a glimpse of home being advertised as existing an hour’s drive along the coast.

Ashley Hammond, 24, originally from Poole, was shocked to discover the images when he was planning a trip with a friend. He said: “It all happened when a friend of mine was making a suggestion for weekend stays outside of Dubai.

“He told me about the cove, he was planning to visit and I had heard of it but we checked it out online first.

“The official website popped up with Durdle Door on the banner and I knew instantly where this was and it isn’t in Ras al Khaimah that’s for sure.”

Mr Hammond, who works in publishing in Dubai, used photographs from the internet to persuade his friend that the beach in the picture was back at home.

“There was not a doubt in my mind this was Durdle Door,” he said. “There must be similar formations around the world but a Dorset boy would never forget the sights of home.”

Neil Elliott, an advertising creative in Dubai who grew up in Weymouth, said: “I’m outraged.

“Pillaging our great Dorset countryside and claiming it as their own.

“The UAE may be able to build the world’s tallest buildings and the largest man made islands but natural beauty is one thing you cannot fake.”

A spokesman for the Lulworth Estate – which owns the land – said: “While the coastal features of Durdle Door and Lulworth Cove are privately owned and the use of images for commercial publication requires consent, the use of the Durdle Door image to promote a high class holiday resort in the UAE does reflect the quality of the landscape features that exist on the Jurrasic Coast and the Lulworth Estate in particular.

“The problem that we have is that there are so many images out in the public domain that although it is an image of land owned by the estate there’s really not a lot we can do.”

Nobody at the Cove Rotana Resort was available for comment.