The UK has several infamously dirty beaches, and a study has recently concluded which among them are the dirtiest of all.
Sewage runoff across the UK has caused an uproar in recent months, with pollutants noticeably running through city streets and off the coast.
In some cases, runoff on the coast has prompted “no swim” warnings as the dirty water threatens to cause sickness.
But the substances that cause those warnings can still be present even once the warnings are revoked, in lesser quantities.
A study has now ranked beaches by assigning them grades for water cleanliness, with ten receiving distinctively poor marks.
Rubbish removal company Clear It Waste devised scores for more than 400 British beaches in 2023, creating grades on a scale of one to 10 by considering a number of factors.
Among the factors considered were recent swim bans and traces of gut bacteria Enterococcus faecalis and Escherichia coli, known more commonly as e.coli.
The bacteria are often present in raw sewage and can cause nasty symptoms like fever, nausea and vomiting.
The beach with the highest concentration of both bacteria was Wharf, a bathing water site on the River Wharfe at Ilkley in Bradford.
The riverside beach received a score of just 3.5, more than a whole point below Blackpool North Beach, which scored 4.85 out of 10.
Blackpool, which has been dubbed the “worst” of the UK’s seaside towns, has several spots on the list of 10 beaches, with Blackpool Central and South receiving near-identical scores of 5.61 and 5.62.
In third place is Weston Main, a beach in North Somerset, which scored 4.99 out of 10.
Wharf at Cromwell, Ilkley – Bradford: 3.5/10
Blackpool North – Blackpool: 4.85/10
Weston Main – North Somerset: 4.99/10
Blackpool Central – Blackpool: 5.61/10
Blackpool South – Blackpool: 5.62/10
Dunster Beach – Somerset West and Taunton: 5.67/10
Saint Annes North – Fylde: 6.2/10
Saint Annes, – Fylde: 6.27/10
Weston-super-Mare Sand Bay – North Somerset: 6.28/10
Heacham – King’s Lyne and West Norfolk: 6.55/10
