'Extremely worrying' - Wirral beach ratings downgraded as locals fear closures

Three Wirral beaches have seen their water quality ratings downgraded after an uptick in bacteria levels linked to pollution this year. This leaves only one beach, Leasowe, still considered “excellent” which is down from four beaches two years ago.

New ratings announced by the Environment Agency at the end of October 2024 shows West Kirby beach has dropped even further with water quality now only considered “sufficient.” Campaigners fear water quality could get worse next year if trends continue and see a rating for the beach drop down to “poor.”

If a beach’s water quality is considered poor, signs advising people against swimming are posted at the beach. West Kirby is the base of the popular Wirral Waters Sports centre for people sailing and kite surfing with a busy beach next door on sunny days.

Two other beaches, Wallasey and Meols, have also seen a downgrade in ratings going from excellent in 2023 to good in 2024. Ian Crewe, Greater Manchester, Merseyside and Cheshire Area Director for the Environment Agency, said overall trends for the region were positive but was disappointed about the situation in Wirral.

Initial data collected at West Kirby suggests sewage is not the cause but investigations are ongoing. Mr Crewe said the Wirral ratings “makes us even more committed to working with key partners and water companies to improve water quality at these important destinations.”

However Hilary Hart, who co-founded the sewage and water quality campaign group Clean Mersey, believes more needs to be done to tackle the issue and plans to write to the Environment Agency. She said: “We are really worried about this trend in West Kirby. Are we going to end up in 2025 with the beach shut?”

She said next year people will be looking at where to spend their time and money on holiday, adding: “I think it’s very worrying for local businesses, extremely worrying for local businesses if people read that.”

The Environment Agency believes sewage discharges into the Mersey or off the north west coast is a minor contributor to West Kirby’s problems with limited DNA analysis suggesting sewage was a minor contributor compared to agricultural run-off or sea birds. However it is considered to be too early to tell for certain.

The regulator is also planning to sample the pipe close to the beach on a regular basis to see if this is the cause as current data is limited. The pipe can act as a sewage discharge point on a limited number of occasions.

It’s understood test results this year showed high results for the bacteria monitored under bathing water regulations at this pipe. Further tests are needed to monitor this and the Environment Agency plans to work with Wirral Council and United Utilities to obtain discharge data for the surface water outfall.

A suspected pollution incident earlier this year later turned out to be rotting seaweed which can raise bacteria levels. Going forward, the government body also plans to DNA screen all bathing water samples significantly beefing up what is screened for.

A spokesperson for the Environment Agency said: “The long-term trend for bathing water quality in the North West remains positive this year with 95% achieving the minimum standard of sufficient. Of these, 61% achieved the highest standards of Excellent or Good.

“However, there is still much more to be done to ensure cleaner and healthier waters for people to enjoy. We understand the frustration felt by the community in West Kirby and other nearby beaches and investigations are ongoing to determine the causes of the changed water quality rating.”

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