Devon beach retains its title as one of England’s dirtiest

Coastguards Beach on the Erme Estuary has been given a Brown Flag Award for the second time. 

A South Hams beach near Holberton has again been named as one of the dirtiest in England at the annual Brown Flag Awards.

Coastguards Beach on the Erme Estuary clung onto the unwanted prize, and has been offered a brown flag with a poo emoji to display for bathers.

The Brown Flag Awards are now in their third year and are organised by a travel website. It analyses Environment Agency data from hundreds of beaches before handing out the prizes.

In total, 15 beaches in England have been given Brown Flags for 2026, including beaches in Blackpool, Weston-Super-Mare and Bognor. That’s a slight drop on last year, when 19 beaches were top of the plops.

Devon slips down league table

Overall, Devon is now ranked seventh in England for clean bathing water, with 77% of its beaches rated ‘excellent’. Northumberland, Dorset and Cornwall make up the top three for clean swimming water.

Five beaches in Devon have seen their water quality downgraded in the last year including two in the South Hams:

Salcombe North Sands – downgraded from Excellent to Good

Hope Cove – downgraded from Excellent to Good

Budleigh Salterton – downgraded from Excellent to Good

Shaldon – downgraded from Excellent to Good

Paignton Paignton Sands – downgraded from Excellent to Good

Keen sea-swimmer Robbie Lane from HolidayParkGuru.co.uk said: "As we saw on the TV programme Dirty Business, some of England’s beaches are in an appalling state and are deserving of brown flags to warn swimmers. Unfortunately, Coastguards Beach is in that category and refuses to flush away its Brown Flag status.

"It’s also concerning to see several other Devon beaches have been downgraded for their water quality in the last year. That goes against the national pattern, which has seen a slight improvement in bathing water quality.

"Devon still ranks well overall, but there is work to do if it wants to avoid being top of the plops. The message for anyone planning a swim in the sea this summer is simple – do your research first!”

Across England as a whole, 68% of beaches are now rated ‘excellent’ for water quality, a slight improvement on last year’s figure of 66.5%.

At the current rate of progress, it would take until 2047 for every beach in England to reach the top standard.

Water quality is measured by the Environment Agency from May to September based on levels of bacteria such as E. coli, which can come from sewage, livestock, wildlife and surface water runoff.

HolidayParkGuru.co.uk created the Brown Flag Awards as a light-hearted campaign to raise awareness of water quality issues at England’s beaches. It does not have any official link to the Environment Agency.

The awards take place each year to coincide with the May Bank Holiday, when many families will be heading to the seaside.

A full list of the cleanest and dirtiest beaches can be found at: www.holidayparkguru.co.uk/brown-flag-awards 

The Brown Flag Winners 2026
The full list of Brown Flag Winners for 2026 looks like this:

• Haverigg in Cumbria (Poocomer for 2026!)
• Coastguards Beach, Erme Estuary in Devon
• Lyme Regis Church Cliff Beach in Dorset
• Southsea East in Hampshire
• Dymchurch in Kent
• Littlestone in Kent
• Blackpool North in Lancashire
• Weston Main, Weston Super Mare Sand Bay and Weston Super Mare Uphill Slipway in Somerset\
• Dunster Beach in Somerset
• Blue Anchor West in Somerset
• Bognor Regis, Aldwick in Sussex
• Worthing Beach House in Sussex
• Tynemouth Cullercoats in Tyne and Wear
• Littlehaven Beach in Tyne and Wear
• Scarborough South Bay in North Yorkshire

This list is alphabetical by county name rather than cleanliness. Weston has three testing points, but they have been combined into one beach for the awards.

Most improved beaches

Five beaches have shaken off their Brown Flag status for 2026, as they’ve been upgraded from ‘poor’ (zero stars) to ‘sufficient’ (one star) by the Environment Agency. These beaches are:

• Porthluney (Cornwall)
• Deal Castle (Kent)
• St Annes North (Lancashire)
• Heacham (Norfolk)
• Bridlington South Beach (East Riding of Yorkshire)

HolidayParkGuru.co.uk uses the official Environment Agency data to crown the cleanest county for swimming in the sea.

The 2026 award for England’s cleanest beaches goes to Northumberland, with Dorset second and Cornwall third. Northumberland was also the winner in 2025.

The county with the lowest percentage of excellent-rated beaches is Lancashire, with Cumbria and Merseyside not far behind. Somerset deserves a mention as half of its assessed beaches have won Brown Flags.

The league table of England’s cleanest coastal counties looks like this:

1. Northumberland – 92% of beaches rated as excellent for cleanliness (=)

2. Dorset – 90% (=)

3. Cornwall – 90% (↑1 compared to last year)

4. Norfolk – 81% (↑4)

5. Isle of Wight – 80% (↑2)

6. Lincolnshire – 78% (↓1)

7. Devon – 77% (↓4)

8. Hampshire and New Forest – 73% (↓2)

=9. Suffolk – 67% (=)

=9. Tyne and Wear – 67% (↑2)

11. Essex – 56% (=)

12. Yorkshire – 52% (↓2)

13. Kent – 52% (↑1)

14. Sussex – 47% (↓1)

15. County Durham – 33% (=)

16. Somerset – 20% (↑2)

17. Merseyside – 14% (↓1)

18. Cumbria – 13% (↓1)

19. Lancashire – 0% (=)

(Brackets show whether it has gone up or down the league table compared to last year)