(EMAILWIRE.COM, May 30, 2009 ) UK - With this summer on the horizon and some sun expected, many of us Brits will be heading to the UK beaches – but just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water – a new ‘Good Beach Guide’ has revealed that only half of UK beaches are fit for swimming…
The Marine Conservation SocietyÂ’s annual Good Beach Guide has found that almost half of BritainÂ’s beaches are not recommended for swimming, following a water quality test.
Of the 777 British beaches tested by the Marine Conservation Society (MCS), only 370 were deemed to have ‘clean’ water. One of the the best known and most popular beaches - Rock in Cornwall - failed to achieve the minimum legal standard for water quality.
This is a decline of nearly 17 per cent – the biggest year-on-year fall in the 22 years the MCS has been producing its annual Good Beach Guide – and the lowest level for seven years.
The poor water quality is partly due to the rain water which buffeted Britain last summer, which mixed with sewage overflows and storm water from cities and flowed into the sea.
More shockingly, one in ten beaches even failed to achieve the minimum legal standard for water quality – a whopping 50 per cent more than last year.
In Scotland, one in seven of 109 beaches tested did not reach the minimum standards. On the Isle of Man only one beach out of 18 was recommended. In Wales, one in six of its beaches failed the tests.
This is a blow for the new trend of ‘staycationers’ who plan to holiday in Britain this year as the credit crunch shot their exotic holiday plans to pieces.
Some of the failed beaches:
England
Instow, Devon
Rock, Cornwall
Bexhill, East Sussex
Plymouth Hoe, Plymouth
Sandgate Beach, Kent
Staithes, North Yorkshire
Seahma Hall Beach, Durham
Seaburn Beach, Sunderland
Seaton Sluice, North Tyneside
Spittal, Northumberland
Bardsea, Cumbria
Morecambe (south), Lancashire
Bispham, Blackpool
Wales
Aberdaron Beach, Gwynedd
Penbryn, Ceredigion
Abercastel, Pembrokeshire
Ferryside Beach, Carmarthenshire
Porthcawl (Newton Bay), Bridgend
Penarth, Vale of Glamorgan
Scotland
Dunbar (Belhaven), East Lothian
St Andrews (West Sands), Fife
Cruden Bay, Aberdeenshire
Ettrick Bay, Argyle & Bute
Stevenston, North Ayrshire
Greenan, South Ayrshire
Sandhills, Dumfries and Galloway
You can check out the full list at the Marine Conservation SocietyÂ’s website, mcsuk.org.
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