Top of the Plops: Portsmouth beach earns 'Brown Flag' hat-trick for being one of the dirtiest in the country
This Portsmouth beach has been named one of the dirtiest for swimming
A Portsmouth beach has earned a ‘brown flag’ hat-trick for having some of the worst seawater quality for swimming, according to a study using Environment Agency data.
UK travel site Holiday Park Guru found Hampshire is England's eighth cleanest county for swimming in the sea this summer - but Southsea East beach has been given a 'Brown Flag Award' for the third year running for being one of the worst.
The awards were established three years ago as a light-hearted campaign to raise awareness of water quality issues across the UK.
Overall, 73 per cent of the beaches in Hampshire have been rated ‘excellent’, but due to Southsea East retaining its same score as last year, it has dropped down the league table as other counties welcome small improvements.
The study has revealed the country’s 19 beaches with the lowest score for cleanliness, with Southsea joined by Haverigg in Cumbria, Coastguards Beach, Erme Estuary in Devon and Lyme Regis Church Cliff Beach in Dorset.
Water quality is measured by the Environment Agency (EA) from May to September based on levels of bacteria such as E. coli, which can come from sewage, livestock, wildlife and surface water runoff.
The EA changed the classification of Southsea East and Eastney bathing sites from “sufficient” and “excellent”, to “poor” and “good” respectively in 2024, with the grading remaining the same throughout the 2025 bathing season.
As part of the mock awards, winners have been offered a complementary brown flag with a poo emoji to display for bathers.
Keen sea-swimmer, Robbie Lane, from HolidayParkGuru.co.uk, said: “As we saw on the TV programme Dirty Business, some of England’s beaches are in an appalling state and are deserving of brown flags to warn swimmers. Unfortunately, Southsea East is refusing to flush away its award and now has a brown hat-trick.
“The good news is that several Hampshire and New Forest beaches have held onto their ‘excellent’ status for water quality including Lee-on-Solent, Calshot and Milford-on-Sea.
“We think this good news deserves to make a splash in the papers. Hampshire’s beaches aren’t perfect but it’s still one of the cleaner places in the country for a sea swim.”
The travel website has also highlighted the cleanest beaches in Hampshire for swimming with Lee-on-the-Solent, Milford on Sea, Hillhead, Eastoke, Beachlands Central, Beachlands West, Calshot, and Lepe all making the cut.
Across England as a whole, 68 per cent of beaches are now rated ‘excellent’ for water quality, demonstrating a slight improvement compared to last year’s figure of 66.5 per cent.
At the current rate of progress, it would take until 2047 for every beach in England to reach the top standard.