Domestic bills are set to rise by up to 25% by 2010

Questions are being asked about who would pay for further improvements as the region already has some of the highest water bills in the country.

SWW has spent more than �1bn to improve the South West coastline under its Clean Sweep programme.

The new bathing water directive will take effect from 2015.

Common infections

Bathing water will be ranked in three categories - "excellent", "good" and "sufficient".

From 2015 EU countries have to ensure their beaches meet at least the "sufficient" standard, which is a step up for the existing mandatory level.

The new tests will reduce the contaminants from 19 to two - e. coli and enterococci - which are the most common causes of infections.

The new "sufficient" standard will mean that the risk of someone becoming ill with an ear infection or stomach upset must not exceed 8%. The percentage for "good" will be about 5% and to qualify as "excellent" the risk must be 3% or less.

In November 2005 a privately-owned beach at Instow in north Devon was the only one of the South West's 143 beaches which failed to meet EU bathing water standards.

Environmental campaigners have long been calling for more stringent tests, claiming the current regulations were about 30 years out of date.

Under Clean Sweep, SWW has removed more than 200 crude outfalls which used to discharge around the coast and there are now 40 state-of-the-art treatment facilities.

But water users in Devon and Cornwall will see their domestic bills going up by an average of 25% between 2005 and 2010.