Ramsgate Main Sands will lose its sought-after blue flag this summer after water quality dropped.

To be eligible for the accolade, the quality must be classified as ‘excellent’ but at the end of last year the beach in Ramsgate was rated just ‘good’ by the Environment Agency (EA).

It means Thanet District Council, which has applied for six blue flags and four seaside awards in total for its beaches this year, is unable to apply for the flag for the Ramsgate sands.

Instead, it has gone for a Keep Britain Tidy Seaside Award, which is a symbol ensuring visitors are guaranteed a clean, safe, attractive and well-managed coast.

The council, EA and Southern Water are working together to find out what may be affecting the water quality.

Cllr Lin Fairbrass, deputy leader and cabinet member for community services, says Thanet currently holds more award-winning beaches than any other district authority in the country.

“The water quality classification of Ramsgate Main Sands has been consistently good which means it is clean and safe for swimming,” she said.

“It is however not unusual for even the cleanest of beaches to experience elevated levels of bacteria, so everyone has a part to play in protecting and improving our beaches.”

The EA investigated various potential sources of pollution, including dredging of the harbour, the Ramsgate Regatta or the seaweed accumulate which may have caused the elevated sample.

The quality of bathing water can be affected by factors such as run-off from roads or agricultural land; storm overflows from the wastewater network; boat and marine activities; misconnections of wastewater pipes into the surface water system; animals on the beach; and litter.