'Brown flags' awarded for West Country beaches
A website's given Porthluney in Cornwall the unwelcome accolade for levels of pollution - but a number in Somerset also appear in the Top 10
You may have heard of the blue flag, which rates the cleanest and safest beaches in the country - but there's another flag on the way for three beaches in Somerset, and it's a less welcome one.
A travel website, Holiday Park Guru, is giving out so-called 'brown flags' for the beaches with the highest pollution levels.
Top of the list is a beach in Cornwall - with Porthluney coming out as having the poorest levels of water quality.
But there is some better news for Cornwall - the same website also says 81% of our beaches are rated excellent for sea water cleanliness.
Here in the West Country, and joint eighth are Weston Main in Weston-super-Mare's Sand Bay, as well as the Uphill Slipway, whilst slightly better (in ninth place) is Dunster Beach in Somerset.
The site says the brown flag is given to beaches which are rated poor for water by the Environment Agency, because of levels of e-coli from sewage and other waste, based on readings taken between May and September.
The full list of 'winners' are:
- Porthluney in Cornwall
- Southsea East in Hampshire
- Saint Mary’s Bay in Kent
- Littlestone in Kent
- Blackpool North in Lancashire
- St Annes North in Lancashire
- Heacham in Norfolk
- Weston Main, Weston Super Mare Sand Bay and Weston Super Mare Uphill Slipway in Somerset
- Dunster Beach in Somerset
- Bognor Regis, Aldwick in Sussex
- Tynemouth Cullercoats in Tyne and Wear
- Scarborough South Bay in North Yorkshire
- Bridlington South Beach in East Riding of Yorkshire