Theo Butt Philip welcomes water quality success on the West Somerset coast

9.23.00am GMT Fri 28th Nov 2008

Theo Butt Philip

All four coastal bathing waters in West Somerset have passed a major quality test which shows that the bathing water is of a good quality, suitable for swimming.

The four beaches in West Somerset are:

Porlock Wier and Minhead Terminus (which both met the most stringent standard) and Dunster North West and Blue Anchor West (which both met the mandatory minimum standard).

The results were welcomed by Theo Butt Philip, Lib Dem Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for Bridgwater and West Somerset, who wants more visitors to visit the district to boost tourism.

Theo Butt Philip said, "Tourism is vital to our local economy so I am delighted all the beaches in West Somerset have passed the quality test. It may be a bit chilly at the moment but next year we want lots of people to come here and have a great holiday.

"So having a clean beach and bathing water is vital to attract visitors to West Somerset.

"The slide in the pound means foreign holidays are more expensive. People can come to West Somerset instead, have a great value holiday and enjoy the very best of what we have to offer."

The tests were carried out by environmental watchdog, the Environment Agency, which tested every main beach in the UK.