As the weather warms up, new research has revealed which beaches are the most accessible for those with limited mobility.
There are few places more appealing than the seaside on a hot day and in the last three years the number of people spending their leisure time at a UK beach has increased by 4 million.
For those with mobility issues however, spending some time on the sand is that little bit trickier. With this in mind, Middletons Mobility has conducted research, revealing the top 10 most accessible beaches in the UK.
To create their league table, Middletons Mobility considered data sourced from TripAdvisor, Disability Rights UK, beach websites and customer reviews.
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Top 10 most accessible beaches
According to the research, Dorset should be the go-to beach destination for people with mobility issues with four Dorset beaches in the top 10.
Weymouth Beach came in at a respectable seventh in the list, just ahead of another Dorset location - Studland Beach in eighth.
Topping the list though were two more of the county's beaches. Bournemouth Beach came out as number one with Sandbanks Beach close behind in second.
Here’s the full list of beaches scoring highly enough to be named among the most accessible:
- Bournemouth Beach, Dorset
- Sandbanks Beach, Poole, Dorset
- Porthminster Beach, St Ives, Cornwall
- Portobello Beach, Edinburgh
- Perranporth Beach, Cornwall
- Brighton Beach, Brighton and Hove
- Weymouth Beach, Dorset
- Studland Beach, Dorset
- West Wittering Beach, Chichester, West Sussex
- Whitby Beach, North Yorkshire
Beaches with accessibility and affordability
While all beaches within the top 10 boast high levels of accessibility, the costs for amenities relating to physical disabilities differ.
Portobello Beach and Perranporth Beach are the only beaches to offer free wheelchair hire, while also offering free disabled toilet access, along with Sandbanks Beach and Porthminster Beach also offering free disabled toilet access. All other beaches require a £5 daily fee to access the disabled toilets.
Most offer a refundable deposit scheme for wheelchair hire, the exceptions being Portminster at £45 per week, and Whitby Beach at £37 per week.
Ricky Towler, the founder of Middletons Mobility, said: “The summertime is the perfect season to spend time at the beach, regardless of levels of mobility.
“As we have assessed which beaches are the most accessible for people with physical disabilities, we wish to inform the public as frequently as possible whenever UK destinations have good or poor accessibility.
“As UK accessibility plummets nearly 50% in just three years, we wish to ensure that our beaches remain accessible to all, allowing for the life quality of individuals with mobility issues and disabilities to consistently match that of physically able people.
“Ensuring that beaches have appropriate entrances, pathways and amenities that allow for wheelchair and motor scooter use is imperative to allowing equality for all.
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