Benefits of Blue Flag beaches

Sir, - In the mid-1990s I worked on the economics of securing Blue Flags for up to 40 beaches around the coast of Wales on behalf of Welsh Water and the Wales Tourist Board.

It was clear from my research that the benefits to tourism clearly outweighed the costs of improving water quality and putting in place various other improvements required to obtain the Blue Flags.

The programme of works included investment in sewerage infrastructure, including UV treatment and long outfalls, and was successful in securing European funding based on a cost-benefit analysis of the scheme. Replacing an internationally recognised benchmark with a home-grown one sends the wrongs signals to would-be visitors, who are entitled to interpret the abandonment of the Blue Flag as a signal that our beaches are now not up to scratch. John Stephens. Dragonwyck, Crossford.