One of the UK's most celebrated beaches has been denied a prestigious Blue Flag award owing to concerns over water quality. Tenby's North Beach was absent from a list of Welsh beaches awarded the accolade, which included the Pembrokeshire town's South Beach and Castle Beach.

Keep Wales Tidy confirmed that Tenby's much-loved North Beach did not apply for, and was therefore not awarded, a Blue Flag Award in the 2026 Wales Coast Awards. This follows a decline in water quality from 'excellent' to 'good'. North Beach also failed to retain the award in 2022 and 2023 for the same reason, having previously enjoyed more than 25 consecutive years of recognition as one of Wales' finest beaches.

Presented by the Foundation for Environmental Education (FEE), the Blue Flag is amongst the world's most prestigious accolades, requiring beaches and marinas to meet stringent criteria ensuring they are clean, safe and well-managed, while promoting sustainability and drawing in visitors, reports WalesOnline.

Natural Resources Wales is currently carrying out an active investigation into the cause of the decline in water quality, though no explanation has yet been established.

Owen Derbyshire, chief executive of Keep Wales Tidy, described the news as incredibly disappointing, adding that the organisation remains firmly committed to collaborating with authorities across Wales to help North Beach restore its water quality and reclaim its Blue Flag status. He said: "Like many people in Wales Tenby's North Beach holds happy memories for me and I share the sadness of all those who will be disappointed by this news.

"It is an important local beauty spot and key tourist attraction and the announcement will come as a blow to local residents, business owners who rely on tourism and, of course, the hundreds of thousands of tourists who visit the beach every year."

Tenby has previously been named the best seaside town in the UK.

Mr Derbyshire went on to note that a 'good' standard of water quality means North Beach still ranks favourably amongst beaches in Wales, while praising all those involved in managing the other elements of the award, such as sustainability and delivering the highest quality visitor experience, "which are all essential factors in a coastal location gaining a Blue Flag Award," he said.

He added: "Wales is lucky to have some of the best beaches in the world. But that doesn't happen by accident. We need clear policy and a renewed commitment to ensure our coastline retains its high standards of cleanliness and effective management so that they continue to attract tourists and remain well-used by local people for generations to come."

A Welsh Water spokesman said: "At North Tenby the classification moved from excellent to good following the results of samples taken during July and August.

"These samples are collected by NRW and test for two different types of bacteria. These bacteria can originate from a range of environmental sources and it is important to note that there were no storm overflow spills in this area in the weeks leading up to the dates those samples were taken.

"Improving water quality is a shared challenge and progress will only come through coordinated action across sectors. Factors such as rural land use, urban runoff, industry, soil erosion, illegal misconnections, and private septic systems all play a part.

"We are committed to playing our role. We are currently investing more than £2.3m a day to improve our services including £2.5bn between 2025 and 2030 to deliver environmental improvements across Wales."