by Martin Jefferies

A beach in Kent is one of only 10 in England and Wales to fail basic water quality checks this year.

Walpole Bay, Margate, did not meet European standards for water quality, according to statistics from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra).

Large amounts of decaying seaweed have been known to affect water quality in Margate and until 2007, treated sewage was discharged around 3km off the coast.

Flows now pass through a sewage plant at Weatherlees, where they undergo further treatment and UV disinfection before being pumped out to sea.

Cllr Simon Moores, responsible for environmental services at Thanet council, said: "Walpole Bay is a popular beach but it isn't one of our main tourist attractions. However, we need to understand why this has happened and how we can deal with it quickly to make sure it doesn't happen again.

"We get up to 5,000 tonnes of seaweed arrive on our beaches each year, so if, as the Environment Agency has suggested, water quality is connected to seaweed, it begs the question why beaches with more seaweed than Walpole Bay aren't themselves affected."

Defra's figures show the vast majority of beaches met the basic EU guidelines – and nine out of 10, a total of 447 sites, met even tougher standards due to come into force by 2015.

Christine Tuckett, head of bathing waters at the Environment Agency, said water companies had already spent more than £8 billion upgrading sewerage sytems and reducing pollution.

Between 2010 and 2015, a further £4 billion will be spent improving water at 37 sites around the coast.