A COMMUNITY can continue to ride the wave of tourism after its waters were deemed clean enough for swimmers and watersports lovers to enjoy in confidence.

Water quality at Haverigg’s beach has been deemed “sufficient” by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, giving residents and visitors the green light to bathe in safety.

It comes after the Environment Agency gave a clean bill of health to all of Copeland’s beaches, with Seascale being labelled “good” and St Bees and Silecroft deemed “excellent”.

Copeland Borough Councillor for Haverigg, Doug Wilson, said: “These ratings are tremendously important for Haverigg and Millom from a holiday-maker point of view. Local people will generally make up their own minds as to whether it’s safe to swim or not, but certainly tourists and people choosing where to go on holiday will take into account these types of report and Haverigg lends itself to those people.

“It’s a child-friendly beach, with shallow water, perfect for sitting on the beach, paddling and splashing about. We’re also really engaging people with watersports now - Haverigg really lends itself to people wanting to learn things like wakeboarding, water-skiing, windsurfing and kitesurfing.”

The Environment Agency tests the water at designated sites every week from May to September, to make sure they are safe and clean for swimming and other activities. The annual rating is based on an average over four years.

The results inform a rating of excellent, good, sufficient or poor, with councils in charge of poor beaches obligated to advise people against swimming in their waters.

Explaining why Haverigg may not have made the top two ratings, Cllr Wilson, added: “Haverigg is part of the Duddon Estuary, with several rivers flowing into that, so we’re always going to suffer from a run-off from some natural land pollution such as farming and animal waste. Because it’s a shallow water area, it’s also naturally less easy to keep unpolluted in that way.”

Copeland’s clean sweep has been welcomed by the borough council, which manages all four beaches.

Councillor Lena Hogg, Copeland's deputy mayor and portfolio holder for environmental health, said: "This is very good news and it means people can enjoy all four of our beaches in confidence.

“Clean beaches are an important tool in growing our tourism industry, as well as a vital health and leisure resource for our residents. We are very lucky to have this special and unspoiled coastline and we work hard to keep it safe and clean.”