Coastline sweeps up 17 awards

The annual Keep Britain Tidy awards has revealed two beaches have scooped the internationally recognised “blue flag” accolade – Hornsea, Withernsea, while Scarborough North, Whitby and Filey have all retained theirs – and 15 beaches have received quality coast awards, the most in any region in the country.

The Yorkshire Post reported yesterday that strict new European Union regulations mean even award-winning stretches of coastline could be declared unsafe by 2015.

But following today’s announcement, tourism chiefs say they are confident of reaching the new standards in four years’ time.

Gary Verity, chief executive of Welcome To Yorkshire and chair of a partnership working to achieve eight blue flags at coastal resorts along Yorkshire’s 50-mile coastline by 2015, said: “This is terrific news for Yorkshire and terrific news for tourism in the region.

“We are proud to tell the world that we have 17 award-winning beaches, including five which have been awarded prestigious Blue Flag status.”

Lee Pitcher, bathing water strategy manager at Yorkshire Water, which is investing £110m as part of the partnership, said: “It’s a fantastic endorsement for Yorkshire.

“We are committed to working together to further improve Yorkshire’s iconic coastline.”