By Sarah Robinson

Published at 11:12, Thursday, 17 May 2012

FOUR of Copeland’s beaches have been given a national award for being clean and well-maintained.

The Quality Coast Awards have been awarded again to the beaches at Silecroft, St Bees, Haverigg and Seascale.

The borough now has four out of the eight top beaches in the North West region.

Coun Hugh Branney, Copeland’s portfolio holder for leisure, culture and youth, said: “I am absolutely thrilled our beaches have again reaped this impressive accolade. This stunning coast can sometimes be overshadowed by the adjacent mountains and lakes, but this helps remind people of what we’ve got. We work hard to make our amenity beaches a pleasure to visit and these awards tell people they can come along and have a wonderful day out at a clean, well-managed, beautiful area.”

The awards, run by Keep Britain Tidy, have been given to 99 beaches around the country’s coastline for their facilities and high standard of water quality.

Phil Barton, chief executive of Keep Britain Tidy, which is responsible for the Quality Coast Awards, said: “We’re absolutely thrilled. These high standards are testament to the hard work carried out by beach managers throughout the year in order to provide clean and safe beaches for everyone to enjoy, whether you live on the coast or are a visitor.”

The awards remind people about Copeland Council’s marine litter campaign.

Coun Branney added: “We have been working with beach groups and communities to look at how we can all take care of our beaches and the response has been fantastic.

“The National Trust and the Lake District National Park have already held litter picks at Drigg and Silecroft and there are others coming up at St Bees and Hodbarrow Nature Reserve.

“I’d encourage anyone who would like to help organise a beach clean to come and chat to us – we will give lots of support to make it happen.”

Anyone interested in taking part in a beach clean should contact Rachel Osborne at Copeland Borough Council on 0845 054 8600.

Published by http://www.whitehavennews.co.uk