Work to begin on £40m tunnel vision to boost resort’s beaches

The investment by Yorkshire Water is part of a wider £110m programme to make the waters off the Yorkshire coast “some of the best in Europe”.

It is also in anticipation of more stringent Blue Flag standards due to be introduced in 2015 through a European Union directive.

At present, it is thought the stricter regulations would threaten the status of some of the Blue Flag beaches in the county.

In June, it was estimated that only Scarborough North Bay and Whitby would keep their blue flags under the new regime.

There are currently five Blue Flag beaches in the region – Withernsea, Hornsea, Bridlington North, Scarborough North and Whitby.

There had been seven when the latest round of accreditation was announced in May, but Bridlington South and Filey have since been ordered to take theirs down.

Last month, officials were told to take the flag down from the five-mile stretch of beach at Filey after it failed water quality tests on several occasions.

And it has now emerged that Bridlington South beach lost its Blue Flag status on August 20. The loss was only confirmed by East Riding Council in response to an inquiry from the Yorkshire Post yesterday.

Darren Stevens, the council’s head of culture and information, said: “The council is disappointed to have lost the Blue Flag at Bridlington South Beach. We recognise how important and prestigious this award is for the town and the East Riding, however we would urge people not to be put off by this setback.

“We would like to take this opportunity to reassure members of the public that the bathing water does meet the European mandatory standard for bathing water quality and that, while Bridlington South has lost its flag, Bridlington North, Withernsea and Hornsea’s Blue Flags continue to fly.”

Beaches are tested each week and only lose their flag if they breach limits for E coli – which can cause stomach upsets and sickness – four times in a season, or three times for another bacteria, intestinal enterococci.

The record rainfall is thought to have been responsible for contaminating beaches, as it causes sewer overflow pipes to discharge untreated dilute sewage, along with agricultural run-off.

The Environment Agency’s water quality planning manager, Dominic Shepherd, said: “The unprecedented levels of rainfall in May and June have led to increased run-off and poorer bathing water quality at many of the region’s beaches. We have not found any specific pollution incidents although the rainfall has increased background levels in the sea during the early part of the summer.

“As rainfall has reduced in July and August, we have seen an improvement towards the good bathing water quality we normally see at Bridlington and other beaches along the coast.”

The work at Bridlington will see a storm water tunnel excavated mainly under local roads, along with the construction of a new storm water pumping station and improvements to the existing pumping station. All are designed to improve the quality of water on both north and south beaches in the resort.

Residents and businesses in Bridlington are being invited to find out more at a drop-in event at Bridlington Spa on Thursday, September 27, from 3pm to 7pm.

Duncan Warner, Yorkshire Water project manager, said: “We’ve employed highly experienced specialists to carry out this vital work in Bridlington and we’d like to encourage residents to come and talk to us at the drop-in event we’re hosting.

“Investing in the highest standard of bathing water quality will bring a wide range of benefits to Bridlington. Of course this will mean some construction work in the short-term but we hope people will recognise the longer-term benefits of this scheme.”