Brown Flag Awards 2025: England’s most polluted beaches named, list includes Porthluney & Littlestone

The 2025 Brown Flag Awards, organised by Holiday Park Guru, identified beaches with the worst ratings for water cleanliness, based on Environment Agency data. The satirical awards aim to draw attention to pollution risks at seaside resorts, particularly those caused by bacteria such as e-coli from sewage and other waste.

“Swimming in the sea is a high priority for us on holiday – but I want to be the only thing floating,” the organisers joked. “We are proud to present the second ever Holiday Park Guru Brown Flag Awards!”

The beaches flagged in the awards were all rated ‘poor’ (or ‘poo’ rating) by the Environment Agency for water quality. While this doesn’t necessarily reflect the entire beach, some areas showed consistently low scores for cleanliness during the bathing season (May 15 to September 30).

The site added: “We have even offered to send tasteful brown flags to the worst beaches, so they can warn swimmers!” The ‘winners’ of the dirtiest beaches include, Porthluney in Cornwall, Coastguards Beach, Erme Estuary in Devon, Lyme Regis Church Cliff Beach in Dorset and Southsea East in Hampshire.

On a more positive note, Holiday Park Guru also released a county-by-county league table to highlight areas with excellent water quality.

“Northumberland ranks top, with more than 90% of its beaches being three-star stunners that achieve the highest score possible for water cleanliness. Dorset, Devon and Cornwall are also highly rated.”

In contrast, Lancashire ranked bottom of the county table, with none of its 10 designated bathing spots earning the top ‘excellent’ rating. Somerset, Cumbria, Merseyside and Kent were also placed in the bottom half.

Meanwhile, the Isle of Wight, County Durham, Lincolnshire and Suffolk earned praise, with all designated bathing areas achieving either a ‘good’ or ‘excellent’ Environment Agency rating.

The site added a disclaimer: “We need to make clear that whilst Holiday Park Guru's 'Brown Flag Awards' uses official Environment Agency data, it does not have any official link with the Environment Agency or any other awards. It is intended as a tongue-in-cheek award to support the campaign for cleaner beaches.

The 2025 Brown Flag Awards ‘winners’ (in alphabetical order)

1. Porthluney in Cornwall
2. Coastguards Beach, Erme Estuary in Devon (Poocomer for 2025)
3. Lyme Regis Church Cliff Beach in Dorset (Poocomer for 2025)
4. Southsea East in Hampshire
5. Deal Castle in Kent (Poocomer for 2025)
6. Dymchurch in Kent (Poocomer for 2025)
7. Littlestone in Kent
8. Blackpool North in Lancashire
9. St Annes North in Lancashire
10. Heacham in Norfolk
11. Weston Main, Weston Super Mare Sand Bay and Weston Super Mare Uphill Slipway in Somerset
12. Dunster Beach in Somerset
13. Blue Anchor West in Somerset (Poocomer for 2025)
14. Bognor Regis, Aldwick in Sussex
15. Worthing Beach House in Sussex (Poocomer for 2025)
16. Tynemouth Cullercoats in Tyne and Wear
17. Littlehaven Beach in Tyne and Wear (Poocomer for 2025)
18. Scarborough South Bay in North Yorkshire
19. Bridlington South Beach in East Riding of Yorkshire​