Last updated 12:14, Monday, 17 November 2008

THREE of the country’s 16 worst bathing waters are in Furness and the South Lakes.

NOT CLEAN: The beach at Aldingham

Water at Aldingham and Bardsea fell beneath strict Environment Agency guidelines for cleanliness.

Millerground Landing at Windermere was also classed below par.

Ninety six per cent of the nation’s swimming beaches passed the test.

The Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, says the exceptionally wet summer weather is to blame.

It says excess rainwater flushes pollutants from agricultural sites and built-up areas into rivers, which then flow to the coast.

Overflowing drains and sewers add to the problem.

Because the Morecambe Bay coastline around Furness is mainly agricultural, the Environment Agency believes livestock manure and slurry is a factor in the pollution.

Environment Agency chief executive Paul Leinster said: “Bathing water quality around the coast of England and Wales has improved dramatically over the past 20 years, but we cannot afford to be complacent.

“Changing weather conditions are presenting new challenges and we will continue to work closely with the farming community, local authorities and the water industry to tackle the sources of water pollution.”

This latest failure comes after an Environment Agency announcement in August that sea water at Aldingham contained two bacteria, indicating that sewage was present.

The beach also breached EU guidelines for contamination levels last year.

Councillor John Murphy, who leads walks around the Morecambe Bay area, said: “Because it’s a bay once the water gets washed from the land into the bay it tends to circulate and accumulate.

“All the problems we get in Morecambe Bay are purely sheep muck. Generally around this area, in Walney Channel and the Irish Sea, I’ve never seen the water so clean in all my life.

“I look in the channel and see species regenerating because of the cleanliness of the water.

“United Utilities has done a grand job.”