Britain's water quality has declined according to EU survey

The number of beaches throughout Britain that have met EU water quality standards has dropped from last year. Only 55 beaches throughout Britain have been awarded the EU's Blue Flag standard, in comparison to the 79 that were given the award last year.

The European Environment Agency released its survey of British beaches earlier this month, which showed that only 58.2 per cent of the beaches tested met the mandatory water quality levels set by the EU. These results mean that Britain has the third worse bathing areas, in terms of water quality, throughout the entire EU, with only Belgium and the Netherlands failing to meet minimum standards at more sites.

Whilst the quality of water throughout most of Europe's lakes, beaches and rivers has risen, Britain's water is getting worse. The EU report lists torrential rain as one of the culprits of the decrease in quality, as the rain water can wash sewage into water that is used for bathing.

Many beaches were awarded the title of 'sufficient' instead of the 'excellent' classification they received in recent years. More beaches also received red flags signalling a severe decrease in water quality - these included Stonehaven in Aberdeenshire, Kimmeridge Bay in Dorset and East Looe in Cornwall.   

In many areas of Europe the water quality classification has been significantly improved, with more sites reaching high standards than ever before. Around 94 per cent of the 22,000 sites that were surveyed in the EU, Switzerland and Croatia met the EU's requirements last year, which is an increase of almost two per cent in comparison to the year before. The number of sites that achieved 'excellent' standards has reached 78 per cent.

However, despite the increase in quality Janez Potocnik, EU environment commissioner, has said that work must continue to improve the safety of bathing water throughout the entire EU. Mr Potocnik said in a statement: "Water is a precious resource and we need to put into practice all the necessary measures to protect it in full."