Borough's bathing beaches maintain spotless standard

Samples taken in the first two weeks of September showed the water quality off the four main beaches - Highcliffe, Friars Cliff, Avon beach and Mudeford Sandbanks - was rated as excellent.

These end-of-season results mirror the findings of the fortnightly sampling and analysis carried out by the Environment Agency and the council's own environmental health department throughout the summer from May to September.

The only blip in the otherwise unbroken string of excellent results occurred at Avon beach in August when the water was only rated "good" but still well within European bathing water standards for levels of micro-organisms and sewage-related bacteria.

"It has been a very good summer for water quality, even if the weather has not been good," said council leisure operations manager Gary Foyle.

Now councillors must decide whether to re-apply for the coveted good beach green flag after abandoning the scheme five years ago because of the cost of meeting the required standards for other facilities such as toilets and life guard provision.

Mr Foyle explained that Christchurch beaches did not fit the green flag grading system for resorts such as neighbouring Bournemouth or rural beaches like those in Cornwall.

And the town had also suffered in the past from freak water sample results caused by weather, failure of local sewage works or even boat owners emptying their onboard toilets, leading to inaccurate and exaggerated reports of the poor water quality off its beaches.

But Mr Foyle said the lack of a green flag had not deterred thousands of visitors from flocking to Christchurch beaches every summer.

"A flag only shows that the beach was OK the previous year, but our latest results are displayed on the beach notice boards so that people can see what the water is like now," he said.

"We monitor up river and in the harbour so that if there was risk of pollution we can inform the public."

First published: October 1