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Blue Anchor West

No. Annual classification is Poor and bathing is advised against.

Water quality only This says nothing about tides, rip currents, cold water shock or lifeguard cover. Cold water and currents are dangerous even when the water is clean. Read the local signs before you go in. What we cannot tell you.

Checked UK time

Why this verdict

Annual classification
Poor (negative factor)
Pollution risk forecast
Normal (positive factor)
Rainfall (24h)
0mm (positive factor)
Latest E. coli
45 cfu/100ml (positive factor)
Latest intestinal enterococci
27 cfu/100ml (positive factor)

Latest bacteria reading

Latest sample · 19 August 2026 · 13 days ago

E. coli
45cfu/100ml
Intestinal enterococci
27cfu/100ml

The regulator samples weekly during the bathing season. E. coli and intestinal enterococci are the indicator organisms used in the official classification.

Sewage spills, 2022 to 2025

The Environment Agency links 7 storm overflows to Blue Anchor West. In 2025 they discharged 169 times.

Counted spills a year at the overflows feeding this bathing water.

Up 35% since 2022, from 125 spills to 169.

Counting every monitored overflow within ten kilometres instead, whether or not it drains here, gives 358 spills across 20 overflows in 2025.

Common questions

Can you swim at Blue Anchor West?
No. Annual classification is Poor and bathing is advised against. Blue Anchor West is a designated bathing water, so it is sampled and rated every season. This answer covers water quality only, not tides, currents or lifeguard cover.
What is the water quality like at Blue Anchor West?
Blue Anchor West is rated Poor in the regulator's latest annual classification, a percentile taken over readings from up to four bathing seasons. The most recent sample, taken 19 August 2026, showed 45 cfu/100ml of E. coli and 27 cfu/100ml of intestinal enterococci.
Has there been sewage at Blue Anchor West recently?
No. No storm overflow within ten kilometres of Blue Anchor West has discharged in the last 48 hours.

Where this data comes from

  • Contains Environment Agency information © Environment Agency and database right
  • Spill counts from the Environment Agency EDM Storm Overflow Annual Returns, 2021 to 2025, published annually.
  • View the regulator's full profile

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