A North East beach could lose its designated bathing water status after failing to meet minimum water quality standards five years in a row.

Cullercoats, in North Tyneside, was one of the 37 sites across England that were rated "poor" for water quality by the Environment Agency.

The agency's assessment, based on the period from 2021 to 2024, looked at the presence of harmful bacteria in designated swimming spots during the official swimming season between May and September.

Around one in 12 of England’s official swimming spots along coasts, lakes and rivers are failing to meet water quality standards, the figures revealed.

This year, 8.2 per cent of bathing waters were rated "poor" in the official assessment.

Of the 450 bathing waters regularly tested, 91.8 per cent met at least the minimum standards for clean water, while 64.2 per cent reached "excellent" standards.

However, the proportion of sites failing to meet minimum standards has nearly doubled from 4.3 per cent last year and is the highest since the current rating system was introduced in 2015.

The figures come amid a consultation on a shake-up of the system, including removing the fixed summer "season" to account for the rising trend in cold water swimming, expanding the definition of "bathers" to cover other water users such as surfers, and testing at multiple points of a site.

Most read

Get the most out of your local news with The Northern Echo Subscribe now and enjoy access for the whole of 2025 for only £25 or enjoy your first six months for £6. Don’t miss out on our biggest sale of the year.

Giles Bristow, chief executive of Surfers Against Sewage, said the bathing water classification regime "isn't just inadequate, it's misleading and needs radical reform".

He said: "The consultation to reform the regulations is vital and must deliver a year-round bathing season, with year-round testing.

"We need multiple monitoring points and testing for a wide range of pollutants."

River Action chief executive James Wallace said: "The Government’s own data shows that swimming in our inland bathing sites poses serious health risks, highlighting the failure of regulators to protect waterways from polluters."

Environment Agency chairman Alan Lovell said: "While overall bathing water quality has improved in recent decades due to targeted investment and robust regulation, today’s results show there is much work still to do, particularly to bring our inland bathing waters up to standard.

"We are working with the water industry, farmers and local authorities and are investing in our regulation, with more people on the ground, updated digital assets and new legal powers to improve our bathing waters for all."