Fife leads the way for the best beaches

Aberdour Black Sands, Aberdour Silver Sands, Billowness, Burntisland, Crail Roome Bay, Elie Harbour Beach, Elie Ruby Bay, Pettycur, Kingsbarns, Kirkcaldy Seafield, Kirkcaldy Pathhead Sands, Leven, St Andrews East Sands and St Andrews West Sands have all been named as some of the best managed beaches in the country.

Fife’s Provost Jim Leishman welcomed the awards, and added that he loved walking the Fife Coastal Path, and walking along, or viewing, the wonderful beaches.

He said: “This is a terrific achievement and fantastic news that Fife continues to lead the way in winning these awards.

“To win so many awards year in year out requires a great deal of dedicated hard work by many people.

“These accolades represent a marvellous achievement by our local communities, partners and council services.”

St Andrews West Sands has received the accolade for all 26 years the awards have been running, and Aberdour Silver Sands will be flying the flag for 25 consecutive years.

Fife has also retained its title as the region with the most award-winning beaches.

For a beach to be successful in achieving a beach award, it has to meet significant criteria. Focusing on environmental quality, the award is designed to complement the work undertaken by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency on bathing water quality and the RNLI on beach safety.

Derek Robertson, Keep Scoyland Beautiful chief executive, said: “The beach awards help to set the standard for our stunning coastlines and inland shores – making sure that they provide visitors with litter free sand, excellent amenities and helpful information about water quality. Organisations across Scotland have been working hard to ensure our beaches continue to provide a great day out for all the family while benefitting people’s health, wellbeing and local economies.”

A map showing all the award-winning beaches with directions and facilities, can be found www.keepscotlandbeautiful.org/beachawards