Cooden Beach fails the test

Overall, the national picture was the biggest year-on-year fall in the Good Beach Guide's 21-year history.

Cooden Beach was graded a "basic pass" in 2007, as was Bexhill Beach.

But while Bexhill retains its "basic pass" rating this season, the MCS Good Beach Guide, announced on Wednesday, gives Cooden a "fail" rating.

The MCS lists 66% of beaches in the south east as MCS Recommended '“ 88 out of 133 tested '“ in its annual Good Beach Guide (www.goodbeachguide.co.uk).

This is a drop of 10 % on last year. The MCS attributes this year's results to the impact of storm pollution on the latest bathing water tests, conducted from May to September 2007 which was the wettest summer on record.

Across the UK as a whole, there is a 10% drop in the number of bathing beaches recommended for excellent water quality compared to last year.

In total, 443 (57%) UK beaches are MCS Recommended this year out of 778 tested, compared to 495 last year.

Beaches failing the minimum legal standard more than tripled from 17 to 53, and MCS blames this drop in water quality largely on an increase in storm-related pollution caused by the wet weather.

However, 443 recommended beaches across the UK is still more than double the total in the Good Beach Guide edition of 2000, which suggests that the 20 billion invested by the water UK industry has brought permanent benefit to Britain's beaches.

MCS Coastal Pollution Officer Thomas Bell said: "These latest MCS results buck the long-term trend of cleaner bathing water but we're pinning the blame squarely on last summer's exceptionally bad weather.

"Heavy rain sweeps pollutants like raw sewage, street debris and animal waste directly from the land into rivers and the sea. Not all beaches are affected but the problem for swimmers is knowing when and where this has happened."

In May last year, MCS warned that climate change forecasts meant severe summer storms were likely to increase pollution around the coast, acting against future improvements in bathing water quality. MCS expects the new Government Bathing Water Regulations to provide better public information about short-term pollution risks on Britain's beaches.

However, it says specific counter measures are also needed including expansion of the sewer system to handle large volumes of storm water, action to address the estimated 3,500 unregulated combined sewer overflows, and a reduction in animal waste run-off from farm land.

Thomas Bell said: "The 443 beaches we're recommending shrugged off the worst of last summer's weather, which is good. But poor quality bathing water carries health risks, so if this summer is wet then I'd advise people to use the Good Beach Guide, pick bathing beaches with a good record, and stay out of the sea for at least 24 hours after heavy storms."

MCS welcomes the new high-tech sewage treatment plant opened by Southern Water at Weatherlees in Kent which benefits beaches from Margate to Broadstairs, but the untreated sewage discharge at Brighton Portobello needs to be urgently rectified and measures to reduce storm pollution run-off and improve emergency storm overflows across the south east are still a priority.

The 21st edition of the Good Beach Guide is published in support of the MCS Campaign for Clean Seas, and is available online at www.goodbeachguide.co.uk from Friday 23rd May. The Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) works in partnership with MCS, and the Good Beach Guide now carries information about the RNLI's national beach safety programme as well details of beaches patrolled by the RNLI lifeguards.

MCS Recommended is one of five UK beach awards, but MCS says theirs is the only scheme that focuses entirely on water quality standards and the risk of sewage pollution. MCS will only recommend beaches in the Good Beach Guide if they are better than the Guideline European water quality standard and are not affected by inadequately treated continuous sewage discharge.

The Good Beach Guide 2008 is published online at www.goodbeachguide.co.uk