BERROW beach has been awarded a Seaside Award from Keep Britain Tidy for the fourth time. 

The honour recognises the quality and diversity of England’s coastline and this summer Berrow Beach will be one of 117 beaches flying a Seaside award flag after meeting the highest standards for cleanliness, attractiveness and beach management.

Barry Kew, chairman of Berrow Parish Council, said he is 'pleased' the beach has received the accolade again.

"It is important that any seaside resort has clean litter free beaches.

"We know tourists do look up ratings and awards online before visiting, so this will help us attract more people into the area "The holiday parks and businesses rely very heavily on the tourists so anything positive helps bring in more people to the area.

"Tanya Cox the litter free coastal officer and Berrow resident Helen Greenslade have achieved wonders mobilising 80 volunteers for a monthly Berrow Beach litter pick."

Burnham-on-Sea sadly missed out on receiving the accolade as the town has been told it cannot win an award due to its 'poor' bathing water quality classification from the EU.

A project is underway to clean-up Burnham beach and improve the sea water quality.

The Friends of Burnham Beach and Litter Free Coast and Sea Somerset have been carrying out regular beach cleans to reduce marine litter and Tanya Cox, coastal community officer for Litter Free Somerset Coasts, has been working on a number of campaigns to reduce the amount of faeces and rubbish in the sea.

Cllr Mike Cresswell, chairman of Sedgemoor District Council, said he is 'pleased' the beach staff's work has been recognised with an award. 

"I hope that all the visitors to the beach this summer enjoy it."

Keep Britain Tidy's chief executive, Allison Ogden-Newton, said: "We are committed to creating a great environment on our doorstep for everyone to enjoy and offering a quality mark that shows everyone just how fantastic our beaches can be. Blue Flag and Seaside Awards set the standard for our beaches.

“It’s brilliant to see so many beaches winning Blue Flag and Seaside Award status this year, thanks to dedication and hard work of beach staff and volunteers who work tireless to maintain the high standards.”

For more information visit http://www.keepbritaintidy.org.