By Megan Lane BBC News Online

Surfers protest against sewage

Daniel Hyndman has not dared brave Brighton's waters since an unpleasant experience surfing near the West Pier almost two years ago.

"I surfed for about an hour in water that seemed a bit too detergenty, a bit too murky. When I got home I started feeling really feverish. Then followed two weeks of the worst diarrhoea and vomiting I've ever experienced.

Surfing near Brighton Marina

"I later found out that a week beforehand, there'd been protests because of a slick of raw sewage in the area where I'd been surfing. I can only put my illness down to that."

While Brighton's sewage and wastewater is pumped offshore well clear of the beach, it is sieved - rather than treated to kill bacteria and viruses - before it spills into the Channel.

This new system is enough to earn the city's shores a place in the Marine Conservation Society's Good Beach Guide this year, albeit with a warning to be aware of the risk of contamination in some areas if swimming after heavy rains.

While tests conducted by the Environment Agency show the city's beaches to be clean overall - and a straw poll of beach-goers shows many happy to swim once the concrete-coloured waters warm up - in certain weather conditions the East Sussex resort can end up engulfed in its own waste.

The water seems a lot cleaner these days - I still wouldn't swim here, but that's more to do with it being cold Brighton beach-goer Richard Heather

And if it rains unusually hard - as it did in the floods of autumn 2001 - the city's new overflow pipes spill into the sea just metres from the shoreline and the bustle of Brighton Pier.

No-one is obliged to warn the public when this happens, says Richard Gregory, of Surfers Against Sewage.

"I know when I'm surfing in sewage - the water tastes peppery and the wipe-outs [the splash when a surfer falls off] are orangey-brown."

Brighton and Hove is but one of many places in the UK to pump sieved waste offshore, so the surfers' environmental group on Wednesday urged MPs to tighten water quality laws so the public can be alerted if sewage muddies the seas.

End of the pier

Another of the UK's busiest seaside resorts, Blackpool, has also struggled to cope with the waste it generates. Its efforts to clean up its beaches have been as bumpy as the giant rollercoaster that dominates the town's seafront.

The three main beaches - Blackpool North, Central and South - all receive a minimum pass in the MCS's 2003 results, but swimmers might want to think twice before taking a dip. According the survey, there are "sewage derived bacteria present in quantities known to cause illness".

Blackpool has cleaned up its act

The result for Blackpool South in particular will have come as a disappointment - last year the beach received a distinguished "yellow flag" rating from the MCS.

But across the board things have improved since the days when all sewage was being discharged off the coast untreated. A �500m improvement scheme paid for new sewage systems and a major treatment works to clean the water.

The so-called Golden Mile of sand is also cleaner, thanks to a concerted clean up. Litter inspectors for the Environment Agency have upgraded all three beaches and two of them - Central and South - have an overall A grade for cleanliness.

Close to home

A litter-picker combs Brighton beach

It is just such a report card that tourism bosses hope will help encourage more Britons to holiday at home at resorts like Brighton and Blackpool rather than jet off in search of summer sun.

Bookings for breaks abroad have already been hit by the war and fears of terror attacks - as has the number of foreign tourists arriving in the UK - and the strong euro has sent prices soaring in Continental holiday hotspots.

All of which suggests a bumper season for the UK's beach resorts. For whatever the weather, the British have a love of their seaside that never seems to fade.

BBC News Online has put together a guide to the 105 Blue Flag beaches around the UK. The European award for well-managed beaches has been given to 105 beaches this year.

To send us a photo of your beach - good or bad - and a few words about it, click on the link below:

It's interesting to see that after viewing the map showing the 'cleanest beaches in the UK', there seems to be a huge area not mentioned being the South of England. The beaches in Dorset aren't shown, where I live, which must have, undoubtedly, some of the best beaches in the UK.
Zophiel Davies, England

Red Wharf Bay, Anglesey, is my favourite beach. We have to remember that a beach may be in excellent condition but not suitable for a Blue Flag award because of its lack of toilets or lifeguards. We also need to remember that a beach may be in a terrible condition because of impacts caused by visitors. It's a delicate balance that needs to be carefully managed. Each of us has a responsibility to reduce our impact on the coastal environment, whether this is through watching what we flush down the toilet or taking our litter home after a day at the beach. Enjoy the beach, but respect it.
Will McKenzie, England

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