Town may lose Blue Flag

Poor water quality in the River Arun, possibly caused by pollution from farm fields, is the likely cause of the failed tests, which will almost certainly see the resort lose its Blue Flag status in 2007, just three years after it was first awarded to the town.

But the large number of individual sewage discharges into the river may also have affected the readings.

Councillors and officials worked hard for many years to bring the Blue Flag to Littlehampton, and the opening of the Ford sewage treatment works five years ago, following sustained pressure from the Campaign for Cleaner Seas, was thought to be a major factor in the town's beaches and bathing waters being named among the best in the country.

Arun and Littlehampton town councillor Mike Northeast is calling on the Environment Agency to take action over the 18 separate sewage discharges into the river. "The EA takes money for licences to discharge into the river, but it should be doing more to monitor them. All these little outfall pipes along the river could well be causing us problems.

"It seems unfair that Littlehampton could be affected by a river which runs right through West Sussex, way beyond Littlehampton and Arun district's boundaries.

"It's very difficult to police, but where we do know there are discharges, work should be carried out to make sure they aren't pollution the river.

"There's nothing worse than getting an award and having it taken away from you. We can't do anything about this year's results, but we have to make sure things are right next year, so we get the Blue Flag back in 2008."

Paul Unsworth, head of environmental health at Arun, said the town was "likely" to lose the flag status following the failed tests during the summer.

He said: "We have got all the other aspects we need in place, such as beach cleaning and lifeguards but we have failed on the water quality which the council and the Environment Agency have no control over."

He added that investigations were underway into the sewage discharges into the Arun.

Richard Edwards, tourism manager for Arun, said: "At the moment we are evaluating the implications that losing the flag may have. We have arranged to meet with the Environment Agency to discuss the matter with them."