Three beaches areadirty ‘disgrace’

Three of South Ayrshire’s main tourist beaches have been named among the UK’s dirtiest.

Heads of Ayr, Ayr (South Beach) and Troon (South Beach) have all made the list of shame.

The trio have been highlighted as part of a new study looking at water pollution from E.coli and Intestinal enterococci.

The study, completed by Save on Energy, comes at a time when many Brits are seeking summertime staycations due to Covid restrictions on foreign holidays.

And the findings come shortly after four beaches in South Ayrshire landed Keep Scotland Beautiful accolades.

A total of 546 coastal waters in England, Scotland and Wales were analysed in the study.

Official government readings for faecal indicators such as E. coli (EC) and Intestinal Enterococci (IE), were used before the beaches were scored based on the measurements found.

Heads of Ayr ranked the UK’s second dirtiest beach with Ayr (South Beach) in third.

Troon (South Beach) was listed seventh on the filth list.

It comes as a £10 million project is underway to improve the water quality at Ayr’s South Beach.

Environmental bosses are trying to stop the shoreline from receiving a ‘poor’ quality water reading for the fifth year in a row.Should it do so, bathers will be warned to keep out of the sea.

South Scotland Tory MSP

Sharon Dowey, herself an Ayr resident, pictured above, said: “It’s a real disgrace that out of the top 10 dirtiest beaches in the UK, three of them are in Ayrshire.

“We have an incredibly beautiful coastline in the south west but it risks being spoiled by pollution.

“These beaches are only going to see more visitors in the summer months, with young families swimming in what has been revealed to be some of the dirtiest water in the UK. Urgent action is needed and that’s why I’ve just lodged a question in the Scottish Parliament asking what the Scottish Government are going to do to clean up our beaches.”