Top of the Plops - Southsea East beach given 'Brown Flag' award for poor water quality for the second year in a row

UK travel site Holiday Park Guru found that Hampshire is England's sixth cleanest county for swimming in the sea this summer - but Southsea East beach has been given a 'Brown Flag Award' for being one of the worst. 

The nation's 19 ‘dirtiest beaches’ are being offered the mock accolade, and the 'winners' are being offered complimentary brown flags featuring a poo emoji to display to swimmers. These beaches are rated as 'poor' by the Environment Agency due to bacteria such as e-coli from sewage and other waste. The number of Brown Flag beaches in England leapt up from 13 in 2024 to 19 in 2025 – an increase of 46 per cent.

The EA has changed the classification of Southsea East and Eastney bathing sites from “sufficient” and “excellent”, to “poor” and “good” respectively for the 2024 bathing season and is expected to remain the same for 2025. Signs in the area will warn against swimming.

Overall, 73 percent of Hampshire's beaches are considered 'excellent' for the quality of their sea water in summer.  The positive news is that Hill Head Beach has been upgraded in the last year, with its water quality now rated as ‘Excellent’ rather than ‘Good’ although Stokes Bay has gone in the opposite direction and has been downgraded from ‘Excellent’ to ‘Good’.

Campaigner and sea-swimmer, Robbie Lane from HolidayParkGuru.co.uk said: “We had hoped that we’d be handing out fewer Brown Flags this year – but things have gone down the pan. For Hampshire, the bad news is that it’s picked up a Brown Flag Award for the second year in a row.

“The good news is that about three quarters of beaches in Hampshire are rated as ‘excellent’ for their water quality in summer – including Lee on Solent, Milford-on-Sea and Calshot. Do your research this summer and you’ll be saying “wish you were here” rather than “wish I’d worn a hazmat suit”. A full list of the three star swimming spots can be found at https://www.holidayparkguru.co.uk"

The Brown Flag Awards Winners 2025 (in alphabetical order):

1. Porthluney in Cornwall
2. Coastguards Beach, Erme Estuary in Devon (Newcomer for 2025)
3. Lyme Regis Church Cliff Beach in Dorset (Newcomer for 2025)
4. Southsea East in Hampshire
5. Deal Castle in Kent (Newcomer for 2025)
6. Dymchurch in Kent (Newcomer for 2025)
7. Littlestone in Kent
8. Blackpool North in Lancashire
9. St Annes North in Lancashire
10. Heacham in Norfolk
11. Weston Main, Weston Super Mare Sand Bay and Weston Super Mare Uphill Slipway in Somerset
12. Dunster Beach in Somerset
13. Blue Anchor West in Somerset (Newcomer for 2025)
14. Bognor Regis, Aldwick in Sussex
15. Worthing Beach House in Sussex (Newcomer for 2025)
16. Tynemouth Cullercoats in Tyne and Wear
17. Littlehaven Beach in Tyne and Wear (Newcomer for 2025)
18. Scarborough South Bay in North Yorkshire
19. Bridlington South Beach in East Riding of Yorkshire

The Brown Flag Awards are reserved for those select beaches which score a ‘poor’ rating from the Environment Agency’s water quality tests.

For more details see: www.holidayparkguru.co.uk/brown-flag-awards.