"Cleanest ever" bathing water good news for surfers, swimmers and local economy

12.00.00am UTC (GMT +0000) Tue 1st Jun 2004

A new report showing that Britain has the cleanest ever bathing water has been welcomed by South West Liberal Democrat MEP Graham Watson as a boost for public health and the local economy in the South West.

According to the European Union's Bathing Water Quality report 2003, published today by the European Commission, 98.4% of British coastal waters meet European safety standards, the highest ever. In 1992, the figure was only 77.1% and in 2002, it reached 97.8%.

Welcoming the results, Graham Watson said:

"With so many hundreds of miles of coastline, clean bathing water is central to public health, quality of life and tourism in the South West. The fact that more of our coastal waters than ever before meet European safety standards is good news for surfers, swimmers and the local economy. European legislation has given us cleaner air and safer drinking water - now it is delivering safer bathing water too."

"Despite this good news, we should not rest on our laurels. In the European Parliament, Liberal Democrats have paved the way for further improvements to European legislation on bathing water quality. A report by a Liberal Democrat MEP called for stricter public health standards to protect swimmers and surfers, and easier access to information about bathing water quality."