THE bathing waters at the main beaches in Hartland, Torridge and Westward Ho! have once again been classified as ‘excellent’ in the latest analysis released by the government department for environment, food and rural affairs (DEFRA).

This is the top classification on the scale, and represents the highest, cleanest class of water that can be achieved.

The award comes on top of the Blue Flag award given to Westward Ho! earlier in the year for the 14th year running.

A new and much tougher classification system was introduced three years ago under a scheme that covers all bathing waters in England.

The water quality at these designated bathing sites in assessed independently by the Environment Agency from May to September each year.

The weekly assessments measure current water quality, which feeds into an annual rating, classifying each site as excellent, good, sufficient or poor, based on measurements taken over a period of up to four years. The ‘excellent’ rating will apply for the 2018 season.

Cllr Phil Pennington, lead member for community, culture and leisure, said: “This is the third time that water quality has been assessed against the new and much tougher EU standards but Torridge’s beaches have once again come through with flying colours achieving the very top grading.

“This is further proof, if any were needed, that Torridge really is a great place to come on holiday with some of the best and cleanest beaches and water in the country. We hope this will continue to inspire visitors to spend more time along our beautiful coastline.”