Pair of Portsmouth beaches hailed '˜excellent' by inspectors

Southsea East and Eastney beaches have been hailed as ‘excellent’ by the government’s Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra).

This is the second year running that Southsea East has achieved the ‘excellent’ rating, while Eastney has held the top classification for some time.

Councillor Linda Symes, Portsmouth City Council’s cabinet member for culture, leisure and sport, said: ‘We’re very proud of our beaches, which are so popular with residents and visitors.

‘It’s great to see that they’ve retained their excellent ratings for another year. Southsea has been completely turned around and now we have wonderful clean water.’

The classification will last into next year’s summer season. To achieve the rating, the sites had to pass a water inspection by Environment Agency officials.

For more detail see: environment.data.gov.uk/bwq/profiles.