Europe



England’s beaches and lakes are facing tough new European standards for water quality as the summer bathing season begins, the Environment Agency said.

Donkeys on Blackpool Beach as England's beaches and lakes are facing tough new European standards for water quality as the summer bathing season begins, the Environment Agency said.

Donkeys on Blackpool Beach as England’s beaches and lakes are facing tough new European standards for water quality as the summer bathing season begins, the Environment Agency said. Image by Peter Byrne/PA Wire

Last year, 99.5% of swimming spots met the basic standards for clean bathing water, with just two places failing to reach the mandatory grade, making the English coast the cleanest since records began, official figures show.

But one in 20 were on course to fail the tougher new EU standards, which come into force for the first time this summer.

The Environment Agency said the new tests would be twice as tough to pass as the EU tries to drive up standards, and appealed to water companies, businesses, farmers, local authorities and households to help reduce pollution and improve water quality.

Dirty bathing water can be due to agricultural run-off, sewage overflows, animal and bird faeces on beaches and households and businesses with badly connected drains, with the weather the main short-term influence on water quality as heavy rain can wash pollution into the sea.

The beaches at risk of failing the new tough standards are:

Allonby, Cumbria

Blackpool Central

Blackpool North

Budleigh Salterton, Devon

Burnham Jetty North, Somerset

Clacton (Groyne 41), Essex

Cleveleys, Lancashire

Fleetwood, Lancashire

Hastings, East Sussex

Haverigg, Cumbria

Henleaze Lake, Bristol

Ilfracombe Wildersmouth, Devon

Instow, Devon

Lancing, Beach Green, West Sussex

Lyme Regis Church Cliff Beach, Dorset

Morecambe South, Lancashire

Mothecombe, Devon

Porth, Cornwall

Porthluney, Cornwall

Seaton, Cornwall

Silloth, Cumbria

Spittal, Northumberland

Staithes, North Yorkshire

Teignmouth Town, Devon

Walpole Bay, Margate, Kent