The consumer watchdog for water and sewage, WaterVoice, has warned that a decision by the European Parliament (EP) could have negative effects on coastal tourism in the UK.

The EP’s Committee on the Environment has announced it wishes to reform the Bathing Water Directive by deleting a classification for water quality from a set of new standards.

WaterVoice said that if the ‘sufficient’ class wereremoved from the current tables, it would result in around one in four of the UK’s bathing waters being re-classified as ‘poor’.

Sheila Reiter, WaterVoice’s chair, said: “We cannot support the deletion of the ‘sufficient’ category, as it provides a stepping stone towars achieving ‘good’ bathing water status.

"It also avoids the serious consequences of a ‘poor’ classification for communities reliant on tourism.”