Cornwall Beach Escapes Embarrassing ‘Top of the Plops’ Award

A Cornish beach has flushed away its reputation as one of England’s dirtiest stretches of sand, just in time for the May Bank Holiday rush.

Porthluney, on the south coast near Caerhays, was the only Cornish beach handed a Brown Flag at last year’s awards. This year, the small cove has been upgraded from ‘poor’ to ‘sufficient’ water quality by the Environment Agency, sparing it from another round of unwanted attention.

What are the Brown Flag Awards?

Now in their third year, the Brown Flag Awards are run by travel website HolidayParkGuru.co.uk. Organisers crunch Environment Agency data from hundreds of beaches to identify the dirtiest spots in England, handing out flags featuring a smiling poo emoji to warn bathers off.

It’s a light-hearted campaign with no official link to the Environment Agency, timed each year to coincide with the May Bank Holiday when families flock to the coast.

In total, 15 beaches across England have picked up a Brown Flag for 2026, including spots in Blackpool, Weston-super-Mare and Bognor Regis. That’s down from 19 last year. Haverigg in Cumbria has been crowned the worst of the worst, taking the dubious ‘Poocomer’ title for 2026.

Cornwall climbs the clean league

The good news doesn’t stop at Porthluney. Cornwall has moved up to third place in England’s league table for clean bathing water, with 90% of its beaches rated ‘excellent’ by the Environment Agency.

Only Northumberland (92%) and Dorset (90%) finished higher. Cornwall actually scored 89.9%, just a whisker behind Dorset before rounding. Devon, by comparison, slipped to seventh on 77%.

Robbie Lane, a keen sea-swimmer from HolidayParkGuru.co.uk, said:

“As we saw on the TV programme Dirty Business, some of England’s beaches are in an appalling state and are deserving of brown flags to warn swimmers. Congratulations are due then to Porthluney, which has managed to wipe away its Brown Flag status. On top of that, 90% of Cornwall’s beaches are now rated as excellent, which is well above the national average. We think this good news deserves to make a splash in the papers. There’s still work to do across the country, but Cornwall shows what can be achieved. Hopefully other regions can follow its lead, and avoid being top of the plops.”

How is water quality measured?

The Environment Agency tests bathing waters from May to September, looking at levels of bacteria including E. coli. These can come from sewage, livestock, wildlife and surface water runoff. The annual ratings are based on roughly 7,000 samples taken over the previous four years at around 400 bathing sites.

Across England, 68% of beaches are now rated ‘excellent’, a small improvement on last year’s 66.5%. At the current rate, it would take until 2047 for every beach in the country to hit the top standard.

Porthluney is one of five beaches nationally to escape Brown Flag status this year, alongside Deal Castle in Kent, St Annes North in Lancashire, Heacham in Norfolk and Bridlington South Beach in East Riding of Yorkshire.

The full list of winners and the league table is available at HolidayParkGuru.co.uk.