Children celebrate Littlehampton’s Blue Flag and Quality Coast Award

Councillors and schoolchildren came out to celebrate the announcement on Tuesday (May 15) that the town’s beach, along with the neighbouring one in Bognor, was, yet again, heralded as one of the best stretches of coastline in the world, after it successfully retained the Blue Flag and Quality Coast Award for 2012.

The flags are awarded as a result of the beaches meeting tough criteria for water quality, beach cleanliness, safety and visitor information during tests carried out by Environment Agency and guarantee visitors peace of mind that their trip to the seaside will be clean and litter free.

Delighted pupils from the River Beach Primary School, in Littlehampton, were the first to help celebrate the award and were on hand to raise the flag, this week.

Councillor Norman Dingmans, Arun District Council’s cabinet member for customer services with responsibility for tourism, was overjoyed by the area’s success.

He said: “We are proud of the fact that our beaches are amongst the best in the world.

“They really are a blessing and I urge people across Arun to get out there and enjoy these natural and beautiful resources.”

The flags are awarded by Keep Britain Tidy. This year, 36 beaches have received awards across Sussex, Kent, Hampshire and the Isle of Wight.

Arun’s leader Gillian Brown said: “Blue Flags are an indicator of the quality of our environment and it is encouraging that Arun is continuing to set such a high standard.”