Bathing water quality

Summary

Key findings for Lancashire-14 in 2024

• No beaches were classified as excellent in 2024
• Four out the ten beaches in Lancashire and Blackpool were classified as having good water quality in 2024
• There were four beaches in the Lancashire-14 area classified as having only sufficient water quality in 2024
• There were two beaches, St. Annes North and Blackpool North, in the Lancashire-14 area classified as having poor water quality in 2024
• There were no beaches in the North West of England to be awarded a Blue Flag in 2024
• 10 of the 11 of the beaches to receive the Seaside Award in the North West were in Lancashire in 2024

The Environment Agency collects data on the cleanliness of bathing waters around the country and its website includes the bathing water data explorer. We have included a small map of the beaches in a Microsoft Power BI slide. Pointing your cursor at the dots will reveal the name and standard of the beach. If you click on the double-headed diagonal arrow near the bottom right of the slide the size of the map will be maximised to the full screen.

The latest results for 2024 that were published by the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) in December 2024 were the ninth measured against standards required by the 2006/7 Bathing Water Directive. The classifications are based on a rolling average over four years, rather than just the last complete year of measurements which the previous classifications used. None of the beaches in Lancashire was classified as excellent, four were classified as good, four only reached the 'sufficient' standard, while the beaches at St Annes North and Blackpool North remained at the 'poor' standard. Overall the results for Lancashire beaches in 2024 were disappointing when compared with 2021. St Annes North and Blackpool North were the only beaches in the North West to be classed as poor and were two out of only 22 in the whole of England. The only change from 2023 is that Morecambe South improved from sufficient to good.

Blue Flag is an international award scheme which acts as a guarantee to tourists that a beach or marina they are visiting is one of the best in the world. The Blue Flag compares beaches throughout the world that meet high standards of cleanliness and management, promote coastal environmental care, are patrolled by lifeguards, accessible and have attained the higher guideline standard of water quality. It refers only to the busier 'resort' beaches. The 2024 results revealed 72 beaches across the country gaining the award, with none of these being in the North West. Blackpool South had won the award for three years running from 2016 to 2018 while been the only winner in the North West region. The Royal Albert Dock and Salthouse Dock Marina at Liverpool was awarded a Blue Flag, but it doesn't count as a beach.

The Seaside Award is focused on raising standards at the coast. The award is said to reflect the great achievements of England's beach managers and helps them in future planning for beach improvements and developments. In 2024, the Seaside Awards (in conjunction with Keep Britain Tidy) website showed 10 winners in Lancashire (out of 11 winning beaches in the North West). The beaches are Morecambe North and South (Lancaster City Council), Ferry, Jubilee, Marine and Rossall (Wyre Borough Council), St. Annes Pier (Fylde Borough Council) and Bispham, Blackpool Central and South (Blackpool Council).

 Page updated March 2025