More than 20 beaches in England will fail to meet new standards Almost all beaches currently meet basic standards for clean water Lyme Regis Church Cliff Beach and Staithes failed tests this year In Wales all 101 beaches tested met the mandatory water standards

By Chris Kitching for MailOnline

Published: 05:30 EST, 11 November 2014 | Updated: 07:10 EST, 11 November 2014

More than 20 beaches in England are expected to fail cleanliness tests when tougher European standards are introduced next year, new figures show.

Almost all beaches in England (99.5 per cent) currently meet the basic standards for clean bathing water, but that figure is expected to drop to 94.5 per cent once the rules change.

Just two spots failed to reach the mandatory grade this year Lyme Regis Church Cliff Beach in Dorset and Staithes in North Yorkshire.

Staithes, North Yorkshire was one of two spots that failed to reach the mandatory grade this year

The other spot that failed to make the grade in 2014 was Lyme Regis Church Cliff Beach in Dorset

But five per cent of beaches which are currently meeting the minimum standards will be classed as poor next year, including Blackpool North, Blackpool Central, Lancashire and Seaton and East Looe in Cornwall.

The UK government said some areas remain vulnerable to the effects of heavy rainfall and pollution from human and animal sources.

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One in 20 English beaches will fail water cleanliness tests under new EU standards