CAMPAIGNERS are celebrating after Manningtree beach became the newest place in the UK to be awarded bathing site status.
As part of the government’s largest ever rollout, 27 new bathing water sites have been designated across the country ahead of the bathing water season which runs between May 15 and September 30.
The campaign to have Manningtree's beach accredited has been years in the making.
The bathing site designation means the Environment Agency will regularly monitor water quality at designated bathing water sites and assess whether action is needed to cut pollution levels.
Some of the proposed change as a result of this new testing is enhanced monitoring and more flexibly around the dates of the bathing water monitoring season.
Helen Whitehead one of the co-founders of the group Manningtree Mermaids which has been campaigning for the bathing-site designation said the news was a "culmination of a huge community effort."
Helen added: "We now have bathing water designation at Manningtree beach which means our water will be tested for E.coli and enterococci so we can better understand the quality of our water and hold polluters to account."
Others such as the University of Essex researchers, Surfers against Sewages, and other groups such as PACE Manningtree were also part of the campaign.
As an open-water swimming group, the Manningtree Mermaids usually swim at high tide and have held protests at the beach, which has three sewer storm overflow outlets nearby.
Environment Agency chair Alan Lovell said: “The importance of England’s bathing waters for residents and visitors alike cannot be understated, which is why the Environment Agency provides rigorous testing to ensure that bathers can make informed decisions before swimming in one of our 451 sites.”
While water Minister Robbie Moore said bathing waters are “incredible valuable” for their social and physical positive health benefits.
Mr Moore added: “These popular swimming spots will now undergo regular monitoring to ensure bathers have up-to-date information on the quality of the water and enable action to be taken if minimum standards aren’t being met."
Sir Bernard Jenkin, MP for Harwich and North Essex, said: “This is incredibly good news and means that bathing water quality will be monitored more carefully at Manningtree beach to reassure bathers when it’s safe to swim".
"As a wild swimmer myself, this has been a campaign close to my heart and congratulations must be given to the Manningtree Mermaids for their successful campaign. I will forever remember that rainy October morning when we swam in the dark.”
DEFRA said that last year, 96 per cent of bathing waters in England met the minimum standards, with 90 per cent being classified as ‘good’ or ‘excellent’ - up from 76 per cent in 2010.
DEFRA said this despite the classification standards becoming stricter in 2015.
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