Blue Flag Awards for Whitby and Scarborough

Whitby and Scarborough North Bay have picked up prestigious Blue Flag Awards and there are ten Seaside Awards for Yorkshire Coast beaches.

Environmental charity Keep Britain Tidy has today announced the winners of the prestigious Blue Flag and Seaside Awards for summer 2023.

In total, 146 beaches in England have been presented with awards recognising the quality of the beaches, the way they are managed and the facilities they offer to visitors.

The Blue Flag is an international award and this year 77 UK beaches have met the high standard required including four beaches in Yorkshire:

• Scarborough North Bay
• Whitby
• Hornsea
• Withernsea

Two of the blue flag beaches - Sandbanks in Poole and Oddicombe in Torbay, Devon - have scooped the award every year since it was launched 36 years ago.  

One marina – the Royal Albert Dock and Salthouse Dock in Liverpool - was also awarded.

In addition,128 beaches are proudly displaying Seaside Awards, including 59 that have received both Blue Flag and Seaside Awards.  

On the Yorkshire Coast Seaside Awards have been given to :

First-time Blue Flag winners this year are Summerleaze in Cornwall and Beer in East Devon. Allonby beach in Cumbria has won a Seaside Award for the first time.  

Keep Britain Tidy’s Chief Executive, Allison Ogden-Newton OBE said:

“Visitors to a beach flying a Blue Flag or Seaside Award can be assured the beach will be clean, safe and meet the highest environmental standards, as well as international bathing water quality standards.

“The Blue Flag is the world’s most recognised award for beaches and marinas and, in order to qualify, each applicant must meet and maintain a series of stringent environmental, educational, safety and accessibility criteria.

“We’d therefore like to recognise and applaud all those who have worked so hard to protect and improve some of our best-loved and most popular beaches. The collective efforts of beach managers, volunteers, residents and businesses all contribute to the success of these sites in achieving the incredibly high standards demanded.”

The Blue Flag and Seaside Awards are aimed at improving the quality of England’s coastline and promoting the country’s best beaches.

Blue Flag is an international award managed by Keep Britain Tidy on behalf of the Foundation for Environmental Education. It is only presented to well-managed beaches with excellent water quality, as defined in the EU Bathing Water Directive, and environmental education programmes.

Among the criteria beaches are assessed against are:

• Safety and services, such as first aid, lifeguards where necessary
• Environmental information, including displaying details about local eco systems
• Water quality – Blue Flag beaches must meet the ‘excellent’ water quality standard as set out in the EU bathing water directive and Seaside Award winners must meet the 'sufficient’ standard.  
• Environmental management, including litter and waste.

Keep Britain Tidy says that the awards are the only way for the public to be assured that beaches are delivering a safe, clean and well-managed space for them to enjoy but our coast is a natural environment and water quality may vary, particularly after heavy rainfall when the advice from the World Health Organisation is to refrain from entering the water for 24 hours.

Water quality testing is carried out in England by the Environmental Agency during the bathing season from May to September. Before heading down to the beach, the public is advised to check the Environment Agency’s Swimfo website to check for any pollution risks as a result of rainfall, wind or high tides.