My rose-tinted spectacles have been well and truly removed and I’m reconsidering my thoughts on a British seaside holiday!  A report this week tells how pollution levels at Britain’s most popular beaches reach a decade high as fears rise over tourism impact.

Tests have revealed that raw sewage is still spilling into the sea, despite water companies investing billions in improvements.  Blackpool alone could face losing £1bn in revenue unless improvements are made to sewer systems and more than 40 beaches are expected to fail when new standards are introduced in 2015.

Some of Britain’s most popular beaches, including Weston-Super-Mare, Exmouth and Blackpool, recorded the worst bathing water quality standards for more than a decade, according to a list obtained by The Sunday Times. 

In 2015, tougher standards are being introduced and will be partly based on this year’s results. At the worst beaches, signs will go up warning people not to swim.

Water companies need to make more efforts, as well as farmers and householders to protect beaches from becoming polluted and there needs to be more information on the times of sewage overflows.  The overflows, which operate during heavy rainfall, are one of the biggest causes of pollution flowing into the sea along Britain’s coastline. They are supposed to operate only three times in one bathing season, but some resorts can have more than 100 sewage spills during a wet summer. 

Brings a whole new meaning to the words “I’ve had a s**t holiday!”