Somerset bathing sites fail water quality standards tests

New figures show one in 12 English bathing waters failed water quality testing and were rated “poor” this year, around 8% of all those monitored - including seven in Somerset.

The River Tone at French Weir Park in Taunton, Dunster Beach, and Blue Anchor West, were among the sites rated “poor” this year, new data from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) revealed.

One in 12 English bathing waters failed water quality testing, around 8 per cent of all those monitored. They account for 4.5% of beaches, rivers and lakes that were already designated as official bathing sites before the 2024 season, and 18 of the 27 sites newly designated this year (67%), which had not been previously sampled or managed as bathing waters.

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Taunton and Wellington MP, Gideon Amos, said: “It is shocking that for so many years people were using our river, including wild swimmers, without being given any information on the state of the water.

“So while it’s disappointing the new research suggests what we all feared - that water quality is poor - the new status means we, at last, have found out the truth about the shocking effects of local pollution.

“The next step from the government must now be a comprehensive programme of investment to begin to improve water quality of the Tone and action from the water company and others to clean up their act.

"The recent new status also means the Environment Agency has just established the necessary working party to make these plans a reality and it held its first meeting recently.

"I followed this up by meeting with the Chair of the Environment Agency and its Wessex Area Manager last week to ensure Taunton’s river will get the investment its status now demands.

"This new data strengthens the case for those investment measures which I hope will soon be designed. I’ll be keeping up the pressure.

“Meanwhile, those who love wild swimming are so right in continuing to take all the necessary precautions to stay safe and advise people to only go in at their own risk.

"And it’s great to see my Lib Dem colleagues on Taunton Town Council have built new steps and are making safety advice notices for this historic bathing spot.

"It’s been a firm favourite for Tauntonians for hundreds of years so let’s get it back to a state people can genuinely be proud of.

"That’s why I applied for the new status in the first place, working with the Friends of French Weir Park, and that’s why I’m continuing work to stop the shocking dumping of sewage in our rivers.”

Here is a full list of the 37 bathing sites which were rated poor in the 2024 assessment:

Tynemouth Cullercoats, Tyne and Wear

Littlehaven Beach, Tyne and Wear (new designation)

Scarborough South Bay, North Yorkshire

Bridlington South Beach, East Riding of Yorkshire

Wharfe at Cromwheel, Ilkley, West Yorkshire

Nidd at the Lido, Knaresborough, North Yorkshire (new designation)

Wharfe at Wilderness Carpark, West Yorkshire (new designation)

Heacham, Norfolk

Sheep’s Green, River Cam, Cambridgeshire (new designation)

Wolvercote Mill Stream, Oxfordshire

Wallingford Beach, River Thames, Oxfordshire (new designation)

Deal Castle, Kent

Dymchurch, Kent

Littlestone, Kent

Worthing Beach House, West Sussex (new designation)

Bognor Regis (Aldwick), West Sussex

Southsea East, Hampshire

River Avon at Fordingbridge, Hampshire (new designation)

Lyme Regis Church Cliff Beach, Dorset (new designation)

Steamer Quay, Dart Estuary, Devon (new designation)

Coastguards Beach, Erme Estuary, Devon (new designation)

Porthluney, Cornwall

Dunster Beach, Somerset

Blue Anchor West, Somerset

River Tone at French Weir Park, Somerset (new designation)

Weston-super-Mare Uphill Slipway, North Somerset

Weston Main, North Somerset

Weston-super-Mare Sand Bay, North Somerset

River Frome at Farleigh Hungerford, Somerset (new designation)

River Teme in Ludlow, Shropshire (new designation)

River Severn at Ironbridge, Shropshire (new designation)

River Severn in Shrewsbury, Shropshire (new designation)

St Annes North, Lancashire

Blackpool North, Lancashire

Coniston Water, Boating Centre, Cumbria (new designation)

Derwent Water at Crow Park, Cumbria (new designation)

River Ribble at Edisford Bridge, Lancashire (new designation)