Seaton Carew beach in Hartlepool given ‘excellent’ bathing rating by Environment Agency

The Environment Agency gave the area’s centre beach, fronting the southern end of the town, three stars out of three meaning Excellent in its classifications for the 2020 bathing season.

Seaton Carew North Gare and Seaton Carew North have also retained their rankings as Excellent and Good respectively.

The ratings are given annually and follow rigorous regular water sampling by the Environment Agency throughout this year’s bathing season.

Weekly water samples were taken between May 1 and September 30.

Councillor Sue Little, Vice-Chair of Hartlepool Borough Council’s Neighbourhood Services Committee, and who lives at Seaton Carew, welcomed the news

She said: “I’m delighted that Seaton Carew has once again earned such high ratings for the quality of its bathing water.

“When you combine this with the lovely beach and the seafront amusements, gift shops and eateries, Seaton Carew offers a lovely day out at the seaside for all the family.”

Earlier this year, Seaton beach was once again granted a prestigious Seaside Award by environmental charity Keep Britain Tidy.

Seaside Awards are only given to English beaches which are clean, safe and meet the highest environmental standards.

The beach is regularly cleaned and is patrolled by lifeguards during the school summer holidays.

More people will be able to visit the beach from next year as the Sea View Car Park is being extended by the council.

Just over 400 new spaces will be created by changing the layout of the existing and extending into the adjacent former fairground site.