Heacham Beach ‘wins’ Brown Flag Award again
Heacham Beach has been named and shamed at the second annual 'Brown Flag Awards'.
UK travel site Holidayparkguru.co.uk analysed the Environment Agency’s official summertime water quality data at hundreds of beaches to reveal the 19 ‘winners’ – including Heacham, which also won the award last year.
The Brown Flag beaches are those rated as 'poor' by the Environment Agency due to bacteria such as e-coli from sewage, bird poo and other waste.
The number of Brown Flag beaches in England increased from 13 in 2024 to 19 in 2025 – an increase of 46%.
Holidayparkguru.co.uk is cheekily offering free brown flags so the 19 winners can warn summer swimmers about their poor rating. Each flag is decorated with a poo emoji. Somerset was the only county that took up the generous offer of a free flag last year – as it was used by campaigners during a clean water protest.
Overall, 69% of Norfolk’s beaches are rated as ‘excellent’ for water cleanliness. Suffolk scored slightly lower on 67% whilst Northumberland, Devon and Dorset made up the top three.
Campaigner and sea-swimmer, Robbie Lane from HolidayParkGuru.co.uk, said: “We had hoped that we’d be handing out fewer Brown Flags this year – but things have gone down the pan.
“For Norfolk, the bad news is that it’s picked up a Brown Flag Award for the second year in a row. The good news is that about two thirds of beaches in Norfolk are rated as ‘excellent’ for their water quality in summer.”
Brown Flag Awards Winners 2025 (in alphabetical order by county):
Porthluney in Cornwall
Coastguards Beach, Erme Estuary in Devon
Lyme Regis Church Cliff Beach in Dorset
Southsea East in Hampshire
Deal Castle in Kent
Dymchurch in Kent
Littlestone in Kent
Blackpool North in Lancashire
St Annes North in Lancashire
Heacham in Norfolk
Weston Main, Weston Super Mare Sand Bay and Weston Super Mare Uphill Slipway in Somerset
Dunster Beach in Somerset
Blue Anchor West in Somerset
Bognor Regis, Aldwick in Sussex
Worthing Beach House in Sussex
Tynemouth Cullercoats in Tyne and Wear
Littlehaven Beach in Tyne and Wear
Scarborough South Bay in North Yorkshire
Bridlington South Beach in East Riding of Yorkshire
