Island beaches get prestigeous Blue Flag awards

Sandown

The Keep Britain Tidy Group Blue Flag scheme and Seaside Awards, have declared that four Island beaches are worthy of flying the Blue Flag this year which is one more compared to 2012. Sandown and Ventnor have retained their flag status while Yaverland and Colwell Bay have gained new awards for 2013 with Colwell obtaining it's first one in over 20 years. The four beaches have also been given Seaside Awards along with Cowes, East Cowes, Springvale, Seagrove, Gurnard, Ryde East, St Helens, Totland and Shanklin giving the Isle of Wight 17 awards in total - four more than last year and now the highest number in the country.



David Thornton, chief executive of Visit Wight.com, said: “It's always a great boost to receive news like this. This is especially timely given that we are raising the Island's profile as the place where visitors can come to this year to not only walk on our beaches, but also walk with dinosaurs!" He added: "The Isle of Wight has always been perceived as a popular seaside holiday destination, and this just shows how much quality we have to offer on our Island to our visitors."

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