Map shows England’s five ‘most polluted Blue Flag beaches’ as waste dumped 1,500 times in a year

Blackpool Sands, in Devon, ranks as the worst Blue Flag seaside for sewage overspill in Lib Dems’ report

England’s five ‘most polluted’ Blue Flag beaches have been revealed. Water companies were found to have dumped sewage near Blue Flag beaches more than 1,500 times last year.

The Blue Flag status is an international mark of recognition that a beach meets high environmental and safety standards.

However, analysis of Environment Agency (EA) data by the Liberal Democrats suggests these supposedly pristine beaches have an underbelly of pollution that could be dangerous for swimmers and wildlife.

Water companies in England were found to dump sewage near Blue Flag beaches over 1,500 times last year (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

The worst affected beach according to them is Blackpool Sands in Stoke Fleming, Devon. According to the data, the beach has been exposed to 63 spills with a total of 1,014 hours of leakage.

The research shows that four out of five of the most severely impacted beaches are all in Devon.

Meadfoot Beach in Torquay, Sidmouth Town Beach and Exmouth Beach are all in the top five.

In total, the top five most polluted beaches identified have suffered 381 spillages over 3,854 hours.

Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey has blamed the government and water companies for failing to “take any meaningful action” to keep England’s beaches safe and clean.

Mr Davey said: “Britain’s beaches are being ruined by profiteering water companies getting away with dumping sewage as the government has failed to act for years. Whilst these firms have been raking in multi-billion pound profits, people have been left to swim in raw sewage. The whole thing stinks.”

Blackpool Sands has ranked as the most polluted Blue Flag beach in England (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

However, the MP for Totnes and South Devon, Anthony Mangnall, has hit back at the claims and said that the information about Blackpool Sands is wrong, citing Environment Agency data that gives Blackpool Sands a clean bill of health and a three-star, Excellent rating. This data also states that the outfall cited by the Lib Dems in their report is 1.5km away from the beach.

Environment secretary Therese Coffey has promised that money from “higher penalties” would be reinvested into a new water restoration fund to clean up waterways. The government plans to lift a cap of £250,000 for fines for water firms that release sewage into rivers and the sea.

Earlier this week Ms Coffey said: “This is not straightforward, but I take this issue extremely seriously and things need to change. That’s why we have developed this plan and we are committed to delivering the progress that people want to see.”

Brighton Beach has a Blue Flag status but experienced 45 sewage overspills last year (Getty Images)

However, Tory ministers have been accused of “taking the public for fools” by offering only “hollow” promises to tackle Britain’s growing sewage scandal.

Labour previously said the “sham” water plan was “a reheating of old, failed measures that simply give the green light for sewage dumping to continue for decades to come”.

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) said it has asked water companies to speed up investment in infrastructure to prevent sewage discharges, reduce nutrient pollution and improve the water supply’s resilience to drought.

This article was amended on April 11 2023. It originally included a photograph showing Blackpool Beach, Lancashire, but that was misleading – the beach referred to in the study was Blackpool Sands, Devon. It was further amended on April 13 to make it clear that the study related only to Blue Flag beaches as that was not mentioned in the original headline and first sentence. The article was further amended on May 3 to include additional information regarding Blackpool Sands and the view of Anthony Mangnall.