TWENTY four of the cleanest beaches in the region have won a coveted Seaside Award flag.

The blue and yellow flags are handed out each year by the charity ENCAMS, which is also behind the Keep Britain Tidy campaign.

They are given to spotlessly clean beaches that have excellent facilities such as toilets, showers and access for the disabled and whose bathing waters meet standards laid down in European law.

A total of 221 beaches in England and the Channel Islands have won Seaside Awards this year, six more than last year.

Sixteen beaches in the North-East claim a blue and yellow flag, including Seaton Carew Foreshore, Sandhaven, South Shields, and Beadnell Bay, in Northumbria.

In North Yorkshire, eight beaches were recognised including both North and South bays in Scarborough, and Whitby.

Liz Moss, coastal director of ENCAMS, said: "Beach managers have realised that the way to draw the crowds and keep visitors happy is to clean the beach thoroughly and frequently, ensure the bins are not overflowing and of course, provide clean toilets.

"The fact that the average resort beach in the North-East such as Whitley Bay South and Saltburn is being cleaned for about 400 hours every week, is great news for visitors."

"Day trippers and holiday makers often don't realise what goes on behind the scenes to keep a beach, its toilets and the area around it spotless, so they can enjoy their visit.

"But with mechanical cleaners, hand litter pickers and an army of other cleaners doing a fantastic job, a Seaside Award beach really does equal a clean beach."

It highlighted council workers' efforts to maintain cleanliness at a number of resorts such as Filey and Scarborough, North Yorkshire, and Tynemouth, Tyne and Wear.

In Tynemouth, a team of 30 lifeguards help to litter pick during the day and some 300 tonnes of rubbish were removed from its beaches between March and October last year.

Seaside Award beach winners in the North-East were: Cleveland: Redcar Lifeboat Station, Saltburn, Seaton Carew Foreshore.

Northumbria: Amble Links, Bamburgh, Beadnell Bay, Low Newton, St. Aidens Seahouses, Warkworth.

Tyne and Wear: Sandhaven South Shields, Tynemouth Cullercoats, Tynemouth King Edward's Bay, Tynemouth Longsands South, Whitburn North Seaburn, Whitburn South Roker, Whitley Bay South.

In North Yorkshire winners were: Cayton Bay, Filey Town, Robin Hood's Bay, Runswick Bay, Sandsend, Scarborough North Bay, Scarborough South Bay, Whitby.