More beaches pass EU water quality test

Nine out of 10 beaches and bathing spots in England and Wales met strict new EU standards for water quality this year, figures show.

Statistics from the Environment Department and the Welsh Government showed that just 10 out of 502 beaches and inland bathing sites in the two countries failed basic water quality standards.

A record 89 per cent of sites met the tougher European standards due to come into force by 2015.

There were nine sites that failed in England, including a string of beaches on the Lancashire coast and one in Wales, at Llandudno west shore.

Blackpool's central and south beaches, pictured above, St Anne's North, St Anne's Pier, Heysham Half Moon Bay and Fleetwood, all on the Lancashire coast, failed the basic water quality tests, as did Walpole Bay in Margate and Ilfracombe Capstone and Combe Martin on the north Devon coast. PA