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Heads of Ayr and Lunan Bay in Angus are worst offenders for illegal contaminants By Rob Edwards Environment Editor

The annual survey of Scotland's bathing waters, due to be unveiled by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (Sepa) this week, will show that contamination from human and animal faeces this summer has been worse than last year.

The two dirtiest beaches were at Heads of Ayr in South Ayrshire and Lunan Bay in Angus, which suffered so much pollution that they failed to meet basic sewage safety limits introduced 38 years ago. Last year, no beaches in Scotland breached these limits.

But this year three samples of water at Heads of Ayr in May and August contained levels of toxic E-coli bacteria in breach of the legal limits. According to Sepa, this was because heavy rain caused "sewer overflows" and washed animal waste from farmland and urban areas.

Another two beaches - Irvine in North Ayrshire and Eyemouth in the Borders - also recorded five sample failures between them. But four of these are liable to be discounted because they were correctly predicted by electronic warning signs at the beaches.

Ten other beaches - in Ayrshire, Argyll, Edinburgh, East Lothian, Angus, Moray and Highland - had single water samples that failed the safety limits this summer (see table below). The contamination from bacteria and viruses can cause ear and stomach infections and, in extreme cases, be fatal.

Next year, much tougher new standards will come into force, meaning that many more bathing waters will be classified as badly polluted. In June, Sepa estimated that as many as 20 could be officially rated as "poor" under the new system.

The pollution has come under fierce fire from environmental groups worried about the health implications. "It's very disappointing that Scotland's beautiful beaches continue to fail the most basic water quality standards," said Andy Cummins, campaigns director of Surfers Against Sewage.

"We are concerned that a wetter bathing season, combined with new, tougher water quality standards will result in a dramatic number of Scottish beaches failing water quality standards in the coming years."

Read more here:

Health fears as 14 Scottish beaches fail pollution tests