Teesside beaches receive top marks in national Good Beach Guide

Water quality results off Teesside’s coast last summer were some of the best ever recorded

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Harry Bailes from Eston

Readers' pictures of Teesside beaches

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Teesside's beaches have received top marks in a national Good Beach Guide.

Water quality results off Teesside’s coast last summer were some of the best ever recorded - with Marske Sands, Redcar Coatham, Redcar Granville, Redcar Lifeboat Station, Redcar Stray and Saltburn beaches all recommended by the Marine Conservation Society (MCS).

Olwyn Peters, Redcar and Cleveland Council’s cabinet member for culture, leisure and tourism, said: “Our beaches are extremely popular over the summer with many visitors taking a dip in the water so this is great news for anybody who likes a day at the seaside, as well as the local businesses that rely on tourism and visitors to the beach.”

Other Teesside beaches, Seaton Carew Centre and Seaton Carew North Gare, also received the highest “recommended” rating from the MCS.

And Seaton Carew North beach received a “mandatory” rating in the Good Beach Guide, which was released yesterday.

Cattersby Sands beach at Skinningrove was the only local beach not to be tested, and was not included in the guide.

The upturn in water quality in Teesside, and across the country, has been partly explained by the fact that last year was the driest summer since 2003.

MCS coastal pollution officer Rachel Wyatt says she hopes the latest figures will be a boost to UK tourism after several wet summers led to a drop in bathing water quality, when pollution ran into the sea from rural and urban areas and overloaded sewers.

“It’s great news that we are able to recommend more beaches than ever for excellent water quality and it shows just how good British beaches can be,” said Rachel.

“The main challenge now is maintaining these standards, whatever the weather.”

By the end of the 2015 bathing season, all designated bathing waters must meet a new minimum European Union standard.

Under the new EU rules, beaches which do not meet the “sufficient” standard at the end of 2015 - which will be twice as stringent as the current minimum - will have to display signs warning beachgoers against bathing in the sea.