BRITAIN'S holiday coastline has received a virtual clean bill of health.
After years of effort to meet strict European Union standards for clean bathing water, 98.4% of the nation's beaches are given the all-clear in the latest annual report on the quality of Europe's shores.
Only nine out of 560 individual resort beaches around Britain fail to make the grade.
But two of them are in Yorkshire.
The nine are East Looe, Cornwall; Llangrannog, Cardiganshire; Blue Anchor West, Somerset; Flamborough North Landing, North Yorkshire; Staithes, North Yorkshire; Brighouse Bay, Borgue; Heysham Half Moon Bay, Morecambe; Rockcliffe; and Ettrick Bay, Scotland.
They failed to meet EU standards for microbiological contamination.
The European Commission praised the UK's "very high degree of compliance".
The figures put Britain fourth out of 15 in a league of clean bathing water.
